From behind Hoots, outside of the doorway, a few scuffs of feet come to a stop. A familiar voice scoffs, before carrying on a one-sided conversation.
"Why would I need an appointment?"
"I'm not sure I can wait that long. They're already inside though, if you could just—"
"Absolutely not. Even if I could afford it, there's no way I'm giving a door that much money."
"Empress or not, my intent lies within, Miss Egress."
"Wha—? Fine! I'll just wait outside."
Vallan trundles out the door. He sees a potbellied madman muttering to himself. "Ah, Bonnie, it's you, yeh mad f*&+. C'mon then, we're off ta see the priest of Brigh. We've work at hand." He motions for Bonnie to follow him and the others. Bloody insane musician. Why are we bringing him along again? He had better not run from battle. The Lord cannot suffer a coward tae live...
After having saved Val, and the fifth member of their team finally arrived late, the group sets off, first to meet with Joram Kyte, the town’s priest of Brigh and old friend of Councilman Baine. A friendly old coot, Joram greets the odd assortment of adventurers and wishes them luck. As promised, he provides two spells of Water Breathing for the group, extended using his Metamagic Rod of Extending he keeps on hand at all times. With such a spell, the entire group - plus Snow, Dahlia’s companion - have the ability to breath water for four hours before the spell expires. They best get moving!
Nearing the entrance to the caves, the group stops on the shore of the Weeping Pond, the tainted water supply for the town. The caves are just a short swim away, though considering the Hellions must swim underwater to get there, any preparations they need to make should be done now.
I'll be damned before I left that simple orc show me up again.
"I'm the slowest, and the stoutest, so I should go first. I dinnae care what order you follow me in," Vallan says once the group arrives at Weeping Pond. He pauses a moment for the others to cast any spells they might want to cast, then he wades into the pond and walks towards the caves.
Hoots grimaces at the thought of going under water. There's no getting around it, but...wet feathers. Ugh!
"Sounds good Vallan, you take the lead. Groog, right behind Vallan. I'll go third. Dahlia, you behind me. Bonnie, take up the rear guard. Everyone keep an eye out. Are we already to go in?"
When his turn comes he wades into the water hesitantly...and pauses for several breaths before putting his head underwater. Gods dangit, can't delay forever. There's a reward to be won!
Pistol in one hand and hat in the other, he shivers and goes under.
Book I: Fires of Creation
Part 2: Black Hill Caves
As the group descends into the disgusting water that smells strongly of vinegar, they suffer a short swim through the languid, empty lake where nothing grows, nothing lives. The underwater tunnel is cramped and would be pitch-black were it not for Dahlia having cast a spell of Light on Vallan’s massive, phallic greatsword that he is in no-way using to compensate for anything. It is a short 45-foot swim as the group makes their way single-file into the caverns. Vallan emerges first, finding himself in a small entry-cavern, where the dampness hangs thick, condensing into moisture on the slick, stone walls. The calm, dark waters that smell strongly of vinegar wind around to the east up north along a stony, soot-scarred beach. A five-foot high ledge sporting several stalagmites rises to the each, beyond which a low-ceilinged cave beckons.
Before he can even set foot on the beach, however, Vallan spots lights coming from the cracks; three massive, glowing beetles emerge and move towards the group aggressively.
<< | | | >>
As the group begins to emerge from the waters, most of the group feels sickened from the tainted waters; everyone except Dahlia and Snow, that is.
___________________________________
7
13.5
(Failure)
(Failure)
(Failure)
(Success)
(Success)
(Failure)
"Get em Snow," Dahlia says, making a particular gesture toward the bugs as she sees them. However, the movement makes her lose her hard won buoyancy, and she slips under the water. Snow heeds the command and makes his way into the shallows.
Vallan retches a little in his mouth. "Filthy gallons o' piss in me gob! What feckin..." he begins to whine, when he notices the beetles. BATTLE! He lets off a hearty laugh. "Iron spines and gory thrill, oh great Gorum, lend me your will!" he says, raising his sword. The blade glows red for a brief instant, and then torrents of blood and gore stream from it down Vallan's arms and onto his chest. The blood coating glows subtly, and seems to empower the dwarf. He stomps boldly through the water to face the beetle ahead of him.
Bonnie Wil continues walking calmly along the bottom of the submerged passageway. His stomach is in a state of turmoil due to the putrid water he's inhaling. He presses on all the same.
Groog was glad when Moosic Man caught up. Moosic Man was the smartest person he knew, because he could talk to things that nobody else could.
When they reached the water, surprisingly, Groog did not need much convincing to go into the water. He just followed Dorf. He trudged along behind the dwarf on the bottom, glad to be surrounded by all his pets as he made his way to wherever they were going.
As his head comes out of the water and he sees the aggressive insects, Groog smiles and moves forward to pick on up. Though, when he sees Dorf draw his weapon, Groog gets even happier.
"More Smashy Smashy!"
__________
Hoots continues to walk forward along the bottom of the tunnel, hearing the commotion as his head gets above water.
As he emerges, he shakes his feathers off and puts his hat back on. As he does so he realizes with disgust that some of the tainted water leaked in through his closed beak.
"Bleagh-GACK! GACK!!" He sputters.
As he does so he starts to take in the swarming bugs around them. As soon as he realizes what's going on he fires a shot at the furthest beetle he can see. "Eat lead, ya eight legged vermit!"
"Get em Snow," Dahlia says, making a particular gesture toward the bugs as she sees them. However, the movement makes her lose her hard won buoyancy, and she slips under the water. Snow heeds the command and makes his way into the shallows.
Vallan retches a little in his mouth. "Filthy gallons o' piss in me gob! What feckin..." he begins to whine, when he notices the beetles. BATTLE! He lets off a hearty laugh. "Iron spines and gory thrill, oh great Gorum, lend me your will!" he says, raising his sword. The blade glows red for a brief instant, and then torrents of blood and gore stream from it down Vallan's arms and onto his chest. The blood coating glows subtly, and seems to empower the dwarf. He stomps boldly through the water to face the beetle ahead of him.
Bonnie Wil continues walking calmly along the bottom of the submerged passageway. His stomach is in a state of turmoil due to the putrid water he's inhaling. He presses on all the same.
Groog was glad when Moosic Man caught up. Moosic Man was the smartest person he knew, because he could talk to things that nobody else could.
When they reached the water, surprisingly, Groog did not need much convincing to go into the water. He just followed Dorf. He trudged along behind the dwarf on the bottom, glad to be surrounded by all his pets as he made his way to wherever they were going.
As his head comes out of the water and he sees the aggressive insects, Groog smiles and moves forward to pick on up. Though, when he sees Dorf draw his weapon, Groog gets even happier.
"More Smashy Smashy!" he says as he smashes one of the glowing bugs into pieces with his axe.
Hoots continues to walk forward along the bottom of the tunnel, hearing the commotion as his head gets above water.
As he emerges, he shakes his feathers off and puts his hat back on. As he does so he realizes with disgust that some of the tainted water leaked in through his closed beak.
"Bleagh-GACK! GACK!!" He sputters.
As he does so he starts to take in the swarming bugs around them. As soon as he realizes what's going on he fires a shot at the furthest beetle he can see. "Eat lead, ya eight legged vermit!" he yells, as the beetle drops from his bullet.
The third and last beetle, unphased by its kins’ massacre, mindlessly charges at Groog, attempting to take a chunk out of his meaty leg, but fails to grab hold.
<< | | | >>
_____________________________________________
Vallan swings his greatsword at the beetle, with a grunt, but he slips in a patch of underwater mud, and his sword ricochets off the beetle's tough shell. No! This kinnae be happenin' "BAH!" he roars, "Accursed dank cunny of a place, this!"
__________
After winning another game of Smashy Smashy, Groog walks up onto the bank. Once there, he begins furiously shaking water off of him like a canine.
Suddenly, a look of panic sets in on his face.
He frantically begins patting down his belt line, eventually finding what he was looking for. He scrapes up the small lump of earwax he dug out in Dolga's office, and quickly sucks it down.
"OK Hellions, let's check out this room -- see if there's anything of interest or clues from the previous parties. Groog, stay close in case there's trouble."
With Groog beside him, Hoots pokes his avian neck further into the cave.
Hoots clambers up the short cliff leading into the next cave examining it. A collection of stalactites and stalagmites choke this low-ceiling cavern, making it difficult to squeeze between them. Matching stalactites close in from the five-foot-high ceiling, giving the impression of a maw of needlelike teeth bearing down on one another. What appears to be a dead half-orc sprawls on the ground near the cave’s eastern entrance.
Vallan goes to the dead half orc and nudges him with the toe of his boot. If the corpse stays dead, he then kneels down to examine it. What happened tae you, yeh green skinned prick...
As the group trudges through the tight cave, Vallan stops at the half-orc - who is in fact, a female. She makes no movement as he nudges her, and she has clearly been dead for days. She appears to have been stripped and looted of all her belongings barring a loose set of clothes.
Nearby, to the east, the cavern opens up, its twenty-foot-high ceiling thick with stalactites. A rocky shore overlooks a placid pool and stream, fed by a trickle of water leaking from a narrow fissure to the north. A small garden of toadstools and dark mold grows along the banks.
(Success)
Vallan grunts at the corpse and moves further into the cavern to make room for his companions. He looks back down the stream's cavern to see if it loops around to the first room.
Groog stops momentarily and kneels down, sniffing at the body. Seeing the others moving on, he picks up his new friend and follows along.
"Groog, put that down. It could make you sick. Sicker than we already are, I mean!"
<< | | | >>
As Vallan and the group approach the water, they fail to recognize the immediate danger that lies within, submerged beneath the water. A small, frog-like humanoid creature with webbed claws and feet and milky-white eyes bursts forth from the water. As it does so, its milky-white eyes erupt in a blinding-light; Vallan and Hoots are both blinded by the sudden light-splosion.
__________________________________
12.3
(Failure)
(Success)
(Failure)
Groog turns his head from the bright light emanating from the Froggy. He sees Hoots and Dorf clutch their eyes in pain.
"You hurt Pets! Groog hurt you!"
He drops his friend Stiffy and rushes the creature, raising his axe and keeping his eyes shut the whole way cause Froggy was very bright. The blade falls beside the creature instead of through it.
__________
Vallan curses as his vision is taken by some kind of frog-demon. He stumbles forward toward the spot where he saw it, stopping when his feet hit the edge of the water. He can smell the slimy fiend right in front of him and hear its breathing. The Gorumite unleashes his pent up battle frustration in a low growl, swinging his greatsword in an upward diagonal slash across where he thinks the amphibian is. Vallan laughs in triumph as he feels the blade catch flesh and shatter bone. That's it baby! About damned time!
Hit?
"Oh fer f&ck's sake! I can't see! That friggin' frog just f&cked my eyes! Can anyone still see? What's going on?"
Hoots briefly looks like he's considering shooting toward where he last remembered seeing the frog and then thinks better of it.
As Vallan and the group approach the water, they fail to recognize the immediate danger that lies within, submerged beneath the water. A small, frog-like humanoid creature with webbed claws and feet and milky-white eyes bursts forth from the water. As it does so, its milky-white eyes erupt in a blinding-light; Vallan and Hoots are both blinded by the sudden light-splosion.
Groog turns his head from the bright light emanating from the Froggy. He sees Hoots and Dorf clutch their eyes in pain.
"You hurt Pets! Groog hurt you!"
He drops his friend Stiffy and rushes the creature, raising his axe and keeping his eyes shut the whole way cause Froggy was very bright. The blade falls beside the creature instead of through it.
Vallan curses as his vision is taken by some kind of frog-demon. He stumbles forward toward the spot where he saw it, stopping when his feet hit the edge of the water. He can smell the slimy fiend right in front of him and hear its breathing. The Gorumite unleashes his pent up battle frustration in a low growl, swinging his greatsword in an upward diagonal slash across where he thinks the amphibian is. Vallan laughs in triumph as he feels the blade catch flesh and shatter bone. That's it baby! About damned time!
"Oh fer f&ck's sake! I can't see! That friggin' frog just f&cked my eyes! Can anyone still see? What's going on?"
Hoots briefly looks like he's considering shooting toward where he last remembered seeing the frog and then thinks better of it.
“Bonnie” remains in the back, safe from the bright light. Eager to help his friends and spurred on by Lily, he closes his eyes and moves towards the fighting.
Although Snow looks eager to rip the creature in half, Dahlia holds the tiger back, afraid that it’ll hurt its eyes due to the blinding light.
The creature, not making any noises besides ploshing in the water, attempts to bite and claw at Vallan; Its two claws are unable to find purchase, but it is able to bite Vallan in the leg.
<< | | | >>
_______________________________
Vallan hisses as the fish-thing's teeth sink into his leg. "Die ye scaly scallawag!" he demands, trying to keep his voice down for fear that whatever's further on in the cavern will hear. He lashes out with the heavy iron pommel of his sword, not wanting to risk another swing in the dark with Groog smelling up the space next to him. He bashes the blindheim's eye, popping it with a wet crunch. Taste o' your own medicine, b+!$@$*s-muncher!
Groog continuously flails about with his greataxe, splashing it around in the water.
__________
Vallan hisses as the fish-thing's teeth sink into his leg. "Die ye scaly scallawag!" he demands, trying to keep his voice down for fear that whatever's further on in the cavern will hear. He lashes out with the heavy iron pommel of his sword, not wanting to risk another swing in the dark with Groog smelling up the space next to him. He bashes the blindheim's eye, popping it with a wet crunch. Taste o' your own medicine, b#@!#+$s-muncher!
Groog continuously flails about with his greataxe, splashing it around in the water.
Bonnie slowly and careful moves about with his eyes close, his hand touching Vallan on the back. ”Ah, theres one of you! Don’t mind me, just flailing around in the dark trying to help out.” He moves north of Val, stepping into the fetid waters.
Hoots, Dahlia, and Snow continue to hold back, not wanting to get blinded or get in the way of the three bruisers.
The Blindheim, still being creepily-noiseless despite being bashed numerous times by Vallan, bites him again, this time in the side; As it does so, both of its claws find purchase as it shreds him, and he quickly goes down.
<< | | | >>
_____________________________________
Continuing to splash water with his axe, eyes closed, Groog begins to laugh, forgetting what he was doing.
_________
Fail
"Vallan's down!" says Dahlia, as she watches the dwarf get mauled by the little frog-like creature.
"Well s&!%, if'n you guys can't do it yerselfs, guess Ah gotta do it fer ya! Dahlia, if'n ya'd be so kind, be mah eyes, would ya?" He begins to move forward slowly, until Dahlia tells him to stop. Then, he aims his pistol; At first, the pistol is aimed directly at the back of Groog's head.
"No, no! To the left, and down! There! Stop! FIRE!"
A gunshot rings in the caves, echoing throughout them as Hoots fires true, hitting the Blindheim in the face, taking it out. "You got it! You guys can open your eyes now, and Vallan needs help!" She runs forward and pulls out her wand, hitting Vallan with a charge from it.
___________________________________________________
Groog continues to giggle and swing his axe blissfully into the water.
Vallan wakes up after about twenty seconds. "AH! I'M BLIND!" he exclaims, hopping to his feet. "Is this the Nine Hells? DID I DIE!?" After a moment, he hears the water and the sounds of Groog giggling. "Oh. It's just the bleedin' caves." He blinks furiously, trying to remove the purple afterimage of the two giant bright eyes from his vision. "We kinnae go on, when I cain't see me hand in front o' me face. We should wait for this tae wear off."
Once the infernal healing spell runs its course, Vallan flexes his leg painfully. The bite wounds haven't completely healed yet. "Oi Bonnie, dae you think you can dae us a favor lad? Me legs still mighty stiff, think you could heal the wound?"
With Vallan and Hoots blind for an hour, the group decides to wait here until they can see again. Dahlia tells Snow to wait near the southern tunnel while she sits near. Hoots and Vallan sit amongst the mushrooms and wait out their annoying blindness.
Groog and Bonnie, meanwhile, spot something interesting in the water; a dead corpse. Examining it, they find most of it having been eaten by the Blindheim and who it was is now unidentifiable. However, a belt pouch remains intact and inside they find forty-two gold pieces, a silver symbol that is made to look like a pickaxe made out of a skull and bones, and two water-tight vials of curious red liquid. The holy symbol, although what god it is for eludes the group examining it, is worth twenty-five gold in its own right.
Bonnie Wil stares blankly at the dwarf for a few moments. His gaze drifts to the froglike corpse in the water. "The acoustics are nice, but everything's so stale. Lots of dead things. Hold still, or I might pluck the wrong chord."
Humming forcefully and merrily, the strange man clasps his hands around around he dwarf's thigh, a likely way for most people to earn themselves a hand less. A pleasant surge of numbness then cool throbbing washes over the warpriest as the wound begins to close fully. "It's so loud. I don't think it hears us. The way forward should be easy. Walk frontways, though. We don't want to trip."
"Uh...aye?" Vallan says, looking a little creeped out. Haven't a feckin' clue what he's on about. The dwarven warrior smiles at the strange oracle, and stumbles back to rest amongst the mushrooms.
After an hour of waiting not-so-patiently, Vallan and Hoots’ vision finally returns. Groog, for his part, had been happily playing in the water the entire time, dancing with what was left of the half-eaten corpse, his second new friend!
With their eyes back to normal, Vallan leads the way, checking up on the stream outlet to the west to make sure there is nothing of interest. A shallow creek runs through the middle of this cavern, while to the south a stony bank rises from the water. Thick carpets of green and gray mold and fungus grow on the bank, particularly around a trio of three-foot-high, foul smelling mounds.
<< | | | >>
As Vallan gets nearer to these mounds, they undulate and lurch at him.
___________________________________________
9.6
13.6
Vallan steps up to the mold and swings his sword at the nearest one. "More critters fixin' tae battle!" he warns his companions. Always knew rabbit food would try to kill me one day. Somehow, he manages to miss the nearly immobile carpet of plant matter.
Miss
Wil splashes his way through the creek and past Hoots. He raises a shield and makes to interpose himself between the strange entities and his feathered friend.
Happy to finally be able to see again, Hoosible agrees to Vallan's suggestion that they check out the last of the water now. Ah reckon it's better now than once mah feathers've finished drying...
Seeing Vallan miss the pile of mold, Hoots calls out, "Hey Vallan, try again with your eyes closed, pardner. Ah think that's your problem!
"Or just leave it to Straight Shootin' Hoots Magaw!" He smiles.