”Stand near me! I will protect you from their charms.”
Whelm skips across the surface of the water like a skipping stone, trololo-ling its dwarven cries all the while...but fails to connect.
Urth stirs the hearts of the party with the power of Valkur, Umberlee's Challenger...the trinity of lightning bolts flashes to mind in an instant and briefly, you touch god.
Narnel sticks at least one arrow into the kelpie mass of horse shaped weeds, and it releases a bizzare sound like leaves rustling in fall, its body metamorphosing randomly in response.
Godric's eldritch blast arcs across the waters, first dissipating below the water, but the followup tangent strikes true.
Round 1:
enemy
Godric, Urth, Lyraath, Molok, Narnel <--UP
Lyraath steps up in front of his companions and a wave of psionic energy ripples through the air. Then he quickly steps back behind them again, preferring to not be in front any longer than necessary.
The psionic wave echoes throughout the chamber sending brief water droplets vaporizing against gravity as the shock wave reaches the sea creatures. One of their manes is torn apart like paper but the other noses down just at the last moment.
They resurface and continue their strange undulations as if trying to communicate, first with Godric then with Molok in the front line.
Round 2:
enemy
Godric, Urth, Lyraath, Molok, Narnel <--UP
Hoping that these were not undead, Godric struck with Blackrazor. Their attempts at communication fell on deaf ears.
WIS Save:
As soon as the hammer returns to his hand, Molok throws it again at the horse-headed creatures.
Attack:
Damage:
total to hit: 21
Whelm finds its target and returns to Molok smelling like sushi.
Round 2:
enemy
Godric, Urth, Lyraath, Molok, Narnel <--UP
"Oh Valkur! You rule the waters! Bless my crew to bring these sea creatures to heel." Urth maintains his Blessing.
"Frigus!" Urth causes a skeletal hand to strike a sea beast.
Narnel again fires two shots in succession at the creature.
Lyraath, seeing one of them harmed more by his last mental attack than the other, focuses his mind in a tighter lance directly at that one.
The strange enchanted armor calling itself Godric swims forth with the vigor of one blessed by Valkur, the astrophysical surface of Blackrazor shimmering white with the divine energy of its Creator. The seaweed mass is hacked to bits.
Narnel and Lyraath concentrate their attacks on a form further from the shallows, and it too blows apart like leaves!
The remaining kelpie targets Molok again with its strange sea song...
Round 3:
enemy
Godric, Urth, Lyraath, Molok, Narnel <--UP
"Oh Valkur! You command the waters! Bless my crew to bring this last sea creatures to heel." Urth maintains his Blessing and shifts to see the last one.
"Frigus!" Urth causes a skeletal hand to strike a sea beast.
Narnel changes his angle and fires two shots in succession at the remaining creature.
Godric strode over to the next of the foes and...
For a split second Molok feels compelled to drop his weapon and walk along the bottom of the water towards the creature...but shakes it off at the last second.
Urth's spectral hand leaps forth from Davy Jones' locker and splats across the water, missing its mark. Narnel strikes with one true arrow, but it hardly does any damage. Godric finally cleaves through the water, his gauntlets-for-fins sculpting through the waves like clay. He brings the smite of the Raven Queen down upon the kelpie in full effect, a small energetic explosion spraying water everywhere.
Round 3:
enemy
Godric, Urth, Lyraath, Molok, Narnel <--UP
Molok again hurls his hammer at the aquatic monster.
Attack:
Damage:
Molok's hammer strikes very hard into the horse-like seaweed mass with a loud *slap* "Har har har, Oh! ...? Was that a piece of yer chest ye stinky sea beast?!" flipping back gingerly through the air into Molok's hard grasp.
The creatures body starts to undulate and seems to go through a rapid transformation, its horse features fade into that of a humanoid woman, voluptuous and well proportioned.
It makes a sad, sighing sound and routes to the northeast underwater.
Lyraath waves at the departing creature, "Bye! Sorry for killing your friends, but please leave us alone now. Thank you."
Then, wary of another attack, he steps just inside the room and looks around to see if there are other ways out that aren't as obvious or anything else of interest.
Soon its hard to even see the creature anymore, blending in perfectly with the rest of the aquatic plant growth covering the room.
Lyraath starts around the wall, but sploshes into the water about halfway along after a sudden invisible drop. There is no danger however and the others can easily jump across.
There are signs of activity here where the stairs meet the water. It appears someone comes here regularly, perhaps to feed the sea creatures. Buckets of chum and other implements of water maintenance are lazily organized on the wall.
The north stairs rise up out of the water into a short, 30 ft hall with a door to the north and a door to the east.
Urth looks around the hallway for clues on which door the chum feeder most frequents.
The flesh golem known as Nine attempts to hurtle its enchanted self across the gap...
...and remarkably, but freakily mechanically, hurtles itself perfectly.
In the northern corridor, you find disturbances in the thin salty ash layer covering the floor mostly worn to the east door. There is a slow rumbling coming from behind.
Urth returns to the group and whispers, "The chum feeder is behind the east door. And I can hear something moving beyond the door. Who's our door opener?"
”Blackrazor and I shall do it.”
After Godric opens the door, its clear where the rumbling has been coming from. Down the hall the stone corridor changes abruptly to a spinning 30 ft long cylinder, apparently made of some light-colored metal. The inner surface rotates rapidly. It is painted in a dizzying black-and-white spiral pattern, and it glistens as if coated with some substance.
"Uh. Huh. Huh. Let's try the other door." Urth suggests starting to get dizzy.
The north door is an ominous matter, made of a glossy black metal. It has a single pivot allowing it to be swung open to the north, but it is very heavy and takes 3 of you pushing with all you've got to get it open. In a major letdown, another door identical to the first lies just behind it, some 10 ft further north. Pushing the first door all the way open seems to lock it in place, forming a sort of seal with the hinge of the next. It is still possible to close it back, however.
Whelm hammer, what do you think of these doors? Their construction is odd, to say the least!"
The Goliath speaks to his hammer in a very respectful manner, still slightly in awe of its powers.
The hammer grumbles a bit before "Mmmmhmmm...strike me." If you strike the hammer on the door it continues "Ach, magework..." it makes a sound like spitting despite obviously not being able to spit "It's nay smelted by the dwarves under mountain, lest it be an urdunnir! But its a latch...mmrm...in dungeoncraft that means someone wannae keep something out!"
"Lovely. Godric, still want to lead?" Urth asks the stunned team.
”With pleasure. We must escape, and flesh is so frail. I remember what it’s pain felt like.”
This second latch is just as obstinate an obstacle as the first, taking the 3 strongest of you to click into place. You ready for the worst but...yet another door seemingly identical to the first 2 stands in your way. White Plume Mountain rumbles intensely. Do you dare open another?
Godric dares. He remembers the knights who were so fearful that they remained trapped. He refuses to accept that fate.
"Godric, just a moment. Let me try something."
Lyrath unfurls the cloth patch smoothly onto the glossy black surface, and suddenly the magic seems to activate. With a sound reminiscent of butter melting quickly on a skillet, the patch distorts and melds with the door material, bending and changing into an architectural delight complete with quatrefoil tracery and quintifoil heads. Panes of glass lightly stained purple fill the space between the supports, and functional hinges running on one side suggest the window could be opened.
Looking through the glass, you see some kind of strangely walled, organically shaped corridor leading into a larger opening to the north, with a floor that appears like sand. You can just make out a large treasure chest on the far side.
”Godric, thanks for waiting. At least we know what to expect now. Anyone see anything moving? Do we want to face this big open space or the spinning tunnel? I’m sure both will be fun!”
Lyraath looks through the window for any movement.
Lyraath, you see depressions in the sand near the chest, but from this distance (~100ft) its hard to tell if they are natural or what. More interesting is the strange membrane that constitutes the walls...its smooth and seems to hold back a liquid, similar to a lung or womb.
I am in favor of the open space. The dizzying effect of the other option clouds my mind.
"I think there's some burrowing creatures - possibly crustaceans - around that chest. What do you think the odds are that they are friendly and willing to just let us carry that chest away?" Lyraath says with a wink. Then he helps the others push this last door open.
Urth helps push open the door and lets Godric take point.
What's the worst that could happen?