"Oh wow!" Terana says, staring into the water. "Can you see that guys? I have to get one!" With that she dives cleanly into the water, her enamelled blue armor disappearing into the azure waves.
Before he can react to warn the others, Terana is already jumping over the side of the boat, leaving Gideon calling out after her, and to the others, before they follow her,"Terana! Stop! It isn't real! It's the seaweed! Come back!"
"No, no, Terana's right! There's... there's something out there!"
Tobar rushes to the boat's edge, tottering slightly as he prepares to jump into the water.
Cathyriel is slow to respond - she still hasn't really got the hang of travelling by ship - and by the time she can act, Terana is already overboard. "By all that's holy, stop! It's a trick!"
She does her best to tackle the crossbowman before he does something foolish. "You can't jump overboard in armour, you don't have gills!"
Cathyriel manages to restrain Tobar and keep him from jumping off the boat. Terana eagerly swims towards the seaweed, and two of the clumps of plant matter begin swimming towards her as well! These shifting masses of green seaweed transform from the shape of a humanoid back to a patch of algae, continually changing.
They lash out at Terana as they draw near, and the attacks breaks the hold of the enchanting pheromones, bringing Terana and Tobar back to their senses. Fortunately, the paladin's armor protects her from harm.
Rather annoyed that her vision was in fact a mirage Terana produces her glaive from nowhere and begins to carve the seaweed into much smaller pieces!
"Whaaaaaat!" says Tobar disbelievingly. He shoulders up his crossbow and starts taking pot-shots at the seaweed around Terana while he balances on the railing of the ship.
"Nice job, Cathyriel!" Gideon say, nocking arrow to bowstring and letting fly with a pair of projectiles.
"No problem." Cathyriel's reply is slightly absent-minded as she considers her options. What is a problem is that she isn't particularly skilled with any useful missile weapons. Calling on the power of her goddess, she gestures and a gleaming longsword appears from thin air.
The gleaming blade slashes at the algae-beast.
Terana manages to slice one of the creatures once, while Tobar's shots are foiled by the thick seaweed that makes up its body. Gideon scores a hit, but his arrow doesn't seem to harm the creature much. Cathyriel's spiritual weapon lands one telling blow.
The creatures strike at Terana, each one slamming her once. Each one grabs a hold of opposite arms, their vines squeezing and crushing the paladin in a deadly embrace!
Seeing the thing grab Terana, Cathyriel calls once more upon Iomedae's power, giving her companion the strength to slip away from the beast's grasp.
The gleaming longsword continues to slash at the beast, to no avail this time.
Tobar keeps up the rain of bolts against the one snagging Terana, hoping to maybe get lucky and sever a frond.
Aided by magic Terana wriggles frantically to escape the fronds.
she kicks ferociously for the boat, knowing she can't take another crushing like the one she just experienced.
Gideon tries to blind the thing with a Glitterdust spell to give Terana even more time to swim away, and time for them to simply escape.
Gideon's spell blinds one of the seaweed fiends, causing it to recoil in surprise. Cathyriel's prayer allows Terana to barely slip free of the monsters' clutches, swimming quickly back towards the ship while she heals her wounds. Tobar scores one hit on the wounded monster, but it doesn't seem to slow it down much.
The blinded creature sinks beneath the waves to recover while the other one charges after Terana! Fortunately, its swing goes wide, splashing into the water near the paladin.
Terana lashes out with her glaive and then kicks backwards, trying to stay between the monster and the boat.
Lacking alternatives, Tobar just keeps uselessly shooting the seaweed creature that charged at Terana.
With little else to do himself, and having already blinded one of the two enemies, Gideon brings his bow to bear once again, joining Tobar in firing projectiles at the creature assailing Terana.
Unsure how many spells she will need to hold onto for now, Cathyriel redirects the longsword that she previously conjured and calls forth another one.
The two blades slash at the seaweed monster.
You focus your fury on the sargassum fiend. Gideon and Tobar festoon it with arrows and bolts, Terana hacks at it with her glaive, while Cahtyriel's spiritual weapons tear at its body. The thing lets out a groan of pain before deciding to break off the attack, sinking down under the waves to avoid further retaliation. Terana is able to climb back onto the boat without incident.
Cathyriel reaches out to help Terana clamber back on board, raising an eyebrow as she does so. "If I ask what it was you saw that made you do that, would I regret learning the answer?"
Terana shakes her head but still refuses to answer the question. "Those things were tough!" She offers, attempting to deflect the conversation. "Whaat on earth were they?"
Cathyriel shakes her head. "No idea. Gideon might know."
You leave the seaweed patch behind as you continue on your journey. After anchoring your ship and resting overnight, you continue on the next day. You are about an hour or so away from Talasantri when Gideon and Tobar notice something happening beneath the water. They can see a band of sahuagin have surrounded something in a field of rocks and coral and are jabbing at it with their tridents. There are four sahuagin, one of which is a hulking mutant with four beefy arms! They are about twenty feet below you and haven't noticed you yet.
"They're called 'sargassum fiends'...some scholar's idea of a bad joke, I suppose. Basically the seaweed version of a shambling mound, except these actually put out a pheromone that coaxes the crewmen of passing ships into jumping overboard, lured by their hallucination."
--------
Thankful for the moment of planning time, Gideon gestures to Terana and Cathyriel, pointing out the four enemies beneath them and whispering,"Enemy of my enemy..."
"Definitely." Terana agrees, diving smoothly into the water and powering down into combat.
As Terana swims at the sahuagin, they gurgle angrily and move to intercept her. The three smaller ones approach and stab with their tridents, while the four-armed mutant casts a spell, conjuring a shield of force.
Tobar thanks his lucky stars that the sahuagin are reasonably close to the surface as he angles his speargun underwater crossbow down to take pot-shots at the mutant monstrosity.
Terana takes her hits and fights on, kicking back for room to wield her glaive fully as rose light closes her wounds.
Unsure of how many enemies they will be facing today, Cathyriel holds back on her more powerful spells, instead conjuring a longsword that slashes at its foes.
Gideon follows Cathyriel's lead, saving his more powerful spells in favor of using his sting ray form's speed to approach Terana quickly from behind and bestowing her with a Heroism spell.
Terana wounds two sahuagin as they approach, then focuses on the more wounded of them, Gideon's heroism helping her land two hits to finish her enemy off! Tobar scores a hit against the four-armed mutant sahuagin, while Cathryiel's spiritual weapon comes up short.
The mutant takes the time to cast another defensive ward as her two remaining minions move to flank Terana. They each land numerous hits, the second one getting two critical strikes that leave the gillman unconscious and dying!
Trebor curses as the situation escalates badly and switches to firing at one of the flankers, hoping to keep Terana from getting mauled worse - or having Cath or Gideon get flanked.
So much for holding back. Cathyriel reaches out for one of the most powerful invocations she knows, calling on the services of one of Iomedae's servants.
A celestial being in the shape of a killer whale appears, swimming protectively over Terana and taking large bites out of the nearest foe. At the same time, her conjured longsword continues to press the attack
Swearing under his breath, Gideon seems hesitant for a moment, as if trying to assess the situation and decide on a course of action. His decision made, Gideon moves to cast a healing spell on Terana, knowing that her potential damage output would far exceed his own.
Terana comes to with a gasp but retains the presence of mind to fight on!
Gideon gets Terana back to consciousness, and the gillman heals herself before continuing to attack her enemies. Tobar shoots the sahuagin the paladin wounds, then Cathyriel summons a mighty killer whale that lives up to its name, finishing off the wounded enemy with the help of the spiritual weapon.
The reamining sahuagin withdraws from the fight, fleeing as fast as it can swim, but the four-armed mutant finally joins the fight, flying into a rage as her arms stretch out to unnatural length and she slices at the paladin with her greatsword! Terana parries the strike with her glaive.
Cathyriel directs the orca and the longsword to attack the new enemy.
Tobar switches back to firing on the four-armed magician.
Terana levels her glaive at the creature and a flash of rose light illuminates the water for a moment.
Gideon casts haste, speeding up the party.
Cathryiel's spiritual weapon scores a hit, as does Tobar. Terana smites the mutant, tearing into her twice and laying her low! The lone surviving sahuagin decides discretion is the better part of valor and tries to flee, but the celestial orca is a faster swimmer, and soon the sea devil lies dead in the killer whale's jaws.
With the battle over, the person they had cornered emerges from her hiding spot in the coral. The young mermaid sighs with relief. "Thank you so much for saving me! I thought those sea devils would be my end. I am Drecissa, and I live in the nearby city of Talasantri. I'm a healer and an herbalist. I was out scouting near the surface for the plants I use in my healing draughts when the sahuagin attacked me!"
"It's no problem, Drecissa! I'm just glad that we happened to be here when we were needed." he answers, then proceeds to introduce everyone to the young mermaid.
"Talasantri is actually where we were headed. We've come from the colony of Talmandor's Bounty on Ancorato, at the behest of Nieran Codali, of the Mordant Spire."
"Ahh, pleased to meet'cha," says Tobar with a bit of surprise. "Can't say as I've ever met merfolk before."
"I've never met humans before! This is all so exciting!" Drecissa says, seemingly in as much wonder as Tobar.
"Please, allow me to guide you the rest of the way to Talasantri. It's the least I can do to repay your kindness. My mother will want to hear of your bravery, and she will certainly reward you for saving me!"
"I certainly think we'd be willing to take you on as a guide; it'd be enormously helpful to have someone who knows the area with us. While the thought is appreciated, there's really no need for any further reward than that, though." Gideon answers.
Drecissa smirks. "Mother may think otherwise. Her name is Anemora. She is a sharply intelligent trader who made a comfortable fortune in salvaging sunken antiques and trading them with other aquatic communities as well as passing ships in the dry world. But you can try to talk her down yourself. Let's go!"
The mermaid swims alongside your ship as you close the rest of the distance to Talasantri. Then, after making preparations to survive underwater, you swim down into the depths.
A hemisphere of latticed red coral rises in a giant half-dome from the seafloor. The coral dome seems partly natural and partly structured. In places there are holes large enough to swim through, though razor-sharp coral ridges and gnarled spikes line these ingresses. In other places, tangled nests of coral block the view within. Phosphorescent jellyfish drift within the dome, radiating their pale glow in luminous bubbles, first in teal, then pink, then yellow. The dome stretches hundreds of feet across, and the dark waters around it obscure even the glow of the jellyfish beyond a few dozen feet away. There is no doubt that you have at last reached Talasantri.
Around the dome and within the red lattice, merfolk and aquatic elves travel in pairs, circling Talasantri with weapons in hand. A large opening near the seabed, flanked by three aquatic elves, seems to be the main way into the city. An arch of interwoven eels carved from the coral and set with precious gems sparkle in myriad shades around the portal, inviting entrance even as the guards on either side of the portal watch for intruders with steely eyes.
As you near the dome’s entrance, one of the archway guards swims toward them. The other guards remain where they are, seemingly willing to let their fellow do the talking but watching him closely. The approaching guard is a young aquatic elf who seems to take his job very seriously. "Halt! State your names and your purpose within the city!" he declares.
Drecissa swims forward with an exasperated sigh. "These surfacers saved my life, Argnos. Just let us in, will you?"
Argnos seems unimpressed. "No surfacers are allowed in Talasantri without the city guard's approval," he says smugly.
Grateful in the extreme for the escort, Gideon follows the young mermaid into the depths of the water.
The sight of the rising from the sea floor fills the archaeologist with awe, and he suddenly finds himself wishing that there was such a thing as a pen and sketchpad that would function underwater, or perhaps a device that would let him commit to memory the image without age ever tarnishing the visual.
When they are confronted by an aquatic elf, apparently by the name of Argnos, his eyes narrow as he sizes up the man.
"No offense intended here, good sir," Gideon begins in reply,"but, were I in the worthy position of guard of the city, I would try to do a better job of keeping my personal animous for a citizen of the selfsame city hidden, lest those of your honorable guard with more experience and wisdom think you less able to fulfill your noble duties."
Argnos flushes a bit at Gideon's words, but he seems to mellow the elf a bit. "Duly noted. You're still going to have to wait for my commander to vet you before you can enter Talasantri, though," he says. "Proper procedure must be followed."
"Of course, my friend. I'm sure that our arrival and presence, in and of themselves, will be enough to make waves for your city, no pun intended. We have no intention of causing any more disturbance than that."