Creeden speaks softly to his companions. "Ah, I was afraid it would be some sort of ghost. Hopefully we can free this poor soul."
Gm is there a knowledge check I can do on this ghostly wet nurse?
Eleric, you think from the girl's appearance that she has spent decades in the aura of the colour out of space and has lost all colour, hence her ghostly appearance. It is likely that she will be insane.
Eleric will approach.
"Let's see if there is anything we can do for her. We can't leave her here."
Heading down to the lower ledge you see the woman. Her age is difficult to tell because her skin is completely bleached from a lifetime of no exposure to the sun. Her hair and eyes are dull and colourless, but her entire body glows with an eerie, unnameable radiance. She speaks a strange, gabbling form of Common, and only
talks about how happy “her baby” is and the “pretty colors
down the tunnel that will make everything all better.”
Creeden says to the others, "Perhaps we can come back for her later. Surely some kind soul in town would care for her. I doubt she can be left to her own devices."
"Smart."
"Let's go there." 26
"Okay so we need to first, see if there is any more cult activity, find the origin of the skum which seems deeper underwater and connect that back to the Dark Rider. Let's go talk to the Mayor and see what his thoughts are."
”Good with me.”
Heading back to town you discover that the Mayor is not in his office and you are directed to his house. Once you get there uyou find that the house is silent and unlocked. Inside there are signs of violent struggle together with signs of some skum footprints that seem to enter the house but you are unable to track the direction they go to. There is no sign of the mayor.
"This is an escalation, but not a surprising one. We are going to have to track down these skum, I fear, and find their lair."
”Stupid skum.....how is the best way to track them if they didn’t leave footprints?”
"Skum are aquatic. We did meet a man with a boat on the way in. Well ew saved him actually. Maybe he will help us."
You find Horace Croon in the local tavern having a quiet drink.
”We need to use your services, Horace. Do you still have your boat? We are on the lookout for some vile skum. Don’t suppose you’ve seen any of them out on the water, have you?”
"Ah yes, I still have the Isinglass. It will be a bit cramped but I am sure I can fit you all. Skum, eh, I've heard of them but never seen them. As they're an aquatic race they probably live beneath the surface of the lake. Fortunately the Isinglass is submersible- that is it is designed to go beneath the waves. I am happy to go looking with you if you want me to take you, although I will need to stay in the ship if you do find anything."
"Oh, an underwater ship? How unusual! We'd be thankful for your help. I think we are close to resolving the issues in the village."
"I have a way to make it so we can breathe underwater, if you can get us to where we need to be."
"Certainly, no problem at all."
With that Croon takes you all to his trawler and sets sail. He heads out to the area near the Tern Rocks, explaining that this is the deepest area of Lake Encarthan,so probably the best part to start looking. He lowers the anchor and then prepares the submersible. It is very cramped inside but you just manage to make it work. He lowers the vessel with you inside, while he remains on the ship to operate the air pump.
As the submersible descends, the dark water below gradually lightens again until it reveals an amazing and terrifying sight. In the muddy floor of the lake at the very base of the rocky islands rests a great dome of dully shining grey metal.
A dim glow emanates from the mouth of this shallow cave. At the back of the fissure, a lens of rippling glass covers a circular opening eight feet in diameter. The transparent lens provides a distorted view of a dimly lit cave behind it that appears to be free of water.
"How long can your deep water boat stay here? It is possible that if we go in we will need to make a quick get away."
"As long as you like, its pretty sturdy. I also have a scroll of message I can use if the weather changes to tell you to get back."
"You're very kind. I don't know how we would have done this without you."
"Perfect. You are clearly a brilliant inventor."
Eleric cast water breathing on the group and they depart the ship.
You head through the small entrance to what seems to be the skum tunnels. Intricate carvings cover the slimy green and black stone walls of this unlit chamber. The walls and ceiling are damp, and the air reeks with a repulsive, fishy smell.
Tess casts Barkskin, increasing her defenses for 90 minutes.
Eleric will cast heroism on each of his companions.
"Be protected, be amazing."
Suddenly, you all notice a faint shimmering in the air.
Eleric will also cast detect magic.
"There may be something here."
You can see two rugose figure rearing up to a man’s height, its large hands bearing far too many twitching fingers, blinking into existence. You get the faint aura of a dimension door spell.
Eleric, you recognise the creatures as dimensional shamblers. They have damage reduction except against lawful weapons. They can take actions normally after using dimension door and they can use dimension door at will.
Tess casts Align Weapon on her bow once warned of the creature’s abilities and weaknesses.
Burst of radiance (DC 20 Ref vs blind). Eleric casts a blinding light at the creature.
Creeden takes his fighting stance and readies an attack.
for
Both of the Dimensional shamblers scream as they are blinded. The closest one is then struck by Creeden's blow.
Ortensia readies to attack i one of the creatures comes near
Tess casts Prayer on the group.