"Grindylows! Again! I don't know why I'm yelling!"
Tessa hefts her crossbow, finger on the trigger, preparing for a grindylow to get close enough for her bolts to have a chance of hitting.
As the grindylows draw near, Tessa shoots the closest one with a crossbow bolt. It falls back into the water, but the other two move in to melee range with Abigail!
Tessa quickly reloads her crossbow underwater, and unloaded it just as quickly, firing at the closest grindylow, trying to avoid shooting Relia in the meantime.
Arma moves into melee with the grindylows heedless of the danger and stabs at the nearest one.
Tessa quickly fires off another shot, but this time her bolt goes wide.
Arma stabs at the nearest grindylow, driving her dagger into its side. It screeches in pain.
Relia drives her trident into the chest of the other grindylow, laying it low.
Abigail draws her greataxe, and even with the water interfering, she still manages a devastating chop that splits its skull in two!
With the battle over, you are free to search the cave. You discover a few leathery pouches made out of a large fish's swim bladder. Inside the pouches, you find 13 pieces of polished red coral worth 10 gp each. In addition, a waterlogged backpack contains a magic bottle, an everburning torch, a rotted coil of rope, an empty flask bearing the initials "E. M.," a hammer, six pitons, and a dented flute.
The cave continues to the north, where the water appears to get deeper (a depth of 10 feet). It seems to connect back to the tunnel heading north. You could swim across the deeper water or go back and use the tunnel.
Tessa gives the bottle a cursory look, and when the water starts to get deeper, she swims down to check it out and ensure its safety, wand drawn and at the ready.
When Tessa gets close to the cave floor, she is surprised when two octopi burst from their hiding spots among the silt!
They reach out for her with their tentacles, but miss!
Tessa quickly kicks out, shooting backwards through the water as she returns to the safety of her allies, her head busting out of the water just behind Arma, Azil hovering its way out of the water and flying a couple feet below Tessa as she treads water, "Two octopi straight ahead. They have really bad aim."
As Tessa retreats, the octopi swim forward towards Abigail. They try to grab her with their tentacles, but while the slimy appendages wrap around her arms and legs, they fail to get a good grip!
Arma drives both of her knives at the nearer octopus.
Tessa tries to shoot the closer octopus, the bolt sinking into the creature's hide.
Relia moves up and stabs the closest octopus with her trident, scoring a devastating strike. Abigail finishes it off, nearly slicing it in half with her axe.
Tessa gets off a crack shot on the other octopus, and as it reels, Arma slays it by driving both of her daggers into its soft body.
Relia takes a look at the bottle but can't tell what it is. She grabs the octopus, and tucks them up out of the water. "We can use these for some meals. Roasted octopus is really good. I'll get them on the way out."
There doesn't seem to be anything else of interest in this chamber. You take a few moments to recover from the fight before swimming across the cave and back into shallow waters. After a sharp switchback in the tunnel, a gradual upward slope leads out of the water and into this roughly round chamber with a dome-like ceiling. The floor is covered in a mixture of sand and coarse stones. Rising from the ground near the center of the room is a massive statue of a hand, carved from a smooth, pearlescent, sea-green marble. The hand is bent back at the wrist and posed as if to catch something or to cradle something in its palm. If anything more exists of the statue, it is buried beneath the earth.
A giant grindylow the size of a human reclines in the hand as if it were a throne. Upon seeing you, she slides down off the hand, rises to her full height and bellows, the sound echoing off the chamber's walls!
Tessa starts an incantation, and over the course of several seconds, several mystic runes engulf Abigail. At the end of the spell, she suddenly doubles in height.
Relia moves as far forward as she can, and then casts Icicle at the creature.
Arma's thoughts whirl with strategies. Big thing, ugly, too far to throw knifes--and I'd be more likely to hit Abigail, drink mutagen? But the thing is wide open, let's move. She draws her knives as she moves, darting between Abigail and Relia, and slashing at the grindylow.
Tessa begans casting a lenghty incantation, causing Abigail to slowly swell in height.
Arma rushes forward with knives drawn, trying to stab the grindylow, but the creature's thick hide turns her blade aside.
Relia moves in and launches an icicle at the monster, but it shatters harmlessly against the stone hand behind it.
Abigail charges straight at the grindylow, her bec de corbin punching a deep wound in its midsection.
Roaring with rage, the monster scuttles forward. Its tentacles reach out to try to trip Abigail, but she avoids getting tangled up. Then the grindylow drives its spear at the ranger! As it stabs her, it turns to cleave Arma, impaling the other woman as well! Though the ranger remains standing after the vicious attack, the alchemist groans and sags to the ground.
Tessa, guided by a spark of instinct, fires her crossbow at the gryndylow, trying to do whatever she can while not getting too close.
Tessa fires off her crossbow, the bolt whizzing past the giant Abigail to hit the grindylow's shoulder. The enlarged ranger shuffles back to bring her massive polearm down in a powerful strike. The point of the weapon drives into the grindylow's chest and explodes out her back, and the creature crumples, her tentacles twitching a few times before she falls still.
Tessa looks over the items, trying to identify them, "Was that it?" she wonders aloud.
Tessa manages to identify half of the items on her first pass.
Relia pulls Arma out of range of the grindylow, and casts Channel Energy several times.
Then she studies the magical items.
Arma comes to consciousness slurring curses. "Uuuugh that hurt. I'm just gonna...sit down a second..." She pulls out the extracts she still has on her person, gives each one a very close look, does a taste test, and reasonably assured she has it right, drinks her extract of Cure Light Wounds.
"Right. Thanks for that, Relia. Hope that's the worst of 'em in here, yeah?"
The hand sculpture is feminine in form and made from a pearlescent sea green marble. It appears to be part of a larger statue buried underground, but unearthing it would take powerful magic or a significant amount of hard labor.
"That would be an interesting project for the future." Indicating the statue/ "I think we've done as asked. Are we ready to head back to the ship? I'm tired of being in wet armor." Relia hands over the wand and asks who wants the ring of swimming.
With all of the grindylows defeated, you leave the cave and return to the ship to report your success. Ramona congratulates you on a job well done, and the colonists cheer your victory. The Peregrine sails south back to Talmandor's Bounty, making the journey in a couple of hours. Upon arrival, the ship drops anchor in the bay and both the crew and colonists work together to begin unloading the ship using the ship's boats.
"The Peregrine will depart tomorrow morning," Ramona says. "If you have any treasures you wish to sell, you can leave them with Captain Markosi, and he will send the proceeds of your sales back with the next supply ship. You may also place an order for equipment and special provisions."
"Now then, why don't you show me around the colony and point out any areas of concern?"
Relia takes Ramona to the temple in the village. She reminds her there's an angry spirit in there that needs to know why she was killed. She decides not to enter to temple unless Ramona asks her to.
"May want to block off the entrance to the church for the time being," Arma says. "Oh, and the storage house with all the rats, eugh."
Arma will try to find somebody among the colonists who could identify the other magic ring they found.
"I believe our alchemist Alba can come up with a solution to the roach infestation. We'll keep the colonists away until they can be exterminated," Ramona says. "As for the spirit, I will consult with Fathers Eamon and Kurvis. Between the two of them, I hope they can keep her pacified until we can find a way to permanently put her to rest."
As you finish the tour, Ramona nods in satisfaction. "Alright, thank you for your insight. Once everybody is settled, we'll get to work!"
It takes the majority of the day to get everything unloaded from the Peregrine. The ship stays the night and the crew replenishes their fresh water before departing in the morning. During the next day, the existing houses are assigned with the understanding that there may need to be compromises made if the original colonists return. Ramona also assigns work details and specialized crews. She declares the four of you the colony's troubleshooters. While you have no official daily jobs, you're expected to be on standby to respond to any situations that might arise. Aside from that, however, you have free rein to spend your days how you wish.
Relia spends some time getting her still room and clinic set up. She speaks with Daib Joiner about making a birthing chair. "I know some of the buildings need doors. At least one lady is expecting, and it would be much easier if there was a birthing chair available for her time. I also need to get my still room set up. Shelves would be nice."
"Of course, Relia. I'd be happy to help," Daib says. The pale carpenter has a shock of bright red hair and worry lines around his eyes and forehead. "Ramona wants us to focus on finishing the palisade first, but once that's done, give me a few days and I'll put together everything you'll need."
Tessa spends her days studying the magic of the area, looking for any decent ley lines or other points of arcane nexi. She also works to add the spells she found in the village to her spell repertoire. When she's not doing that, the elf is busy either going for long swims in the bay or studying the Azlanti artifacts they'd come across- the Clockwork spy and sword in particular.
Once Relia's clinic is up and going, several of the colonists stop by for treatment for minor scrapes and bruises. Of course, the cleric's primary patient is Helena Trundlebrook. Her pregnancy is progressing well--both mother and child are healthy, and she should reach full term in a couple of months.
Abigail volunteers for soldier duty and helps organize the colony's security. She works closely with Ramona and Carver Hastings, the gruff soldier demonstrating a keen mind and understanding of tactics. She also goes on a few scouting expeditions with Lyra Heatherly, helping to map the immediate vicinity.
Arma works with Alba Divenvaar to set up an alchemist's lab in one of the empty houses. The dwarf seems happy to help mentor the younger alchemist and aid in her potion-making.
Tessa doesn't find any ley lines passing through Talmandor's Bounty, but there may be more elsewhere on the island. The elf spends most of her free time scribing new spells in her book or studying the Azlanti artifacts.
The next several days pass rather quickly, with work beginning in earnest to get Talmandor's Bounty up and running again. As the farmers clear the fields and tend to the crops, the carpenters focus their work on finishing the palisade wall. By week's end, the wooden fortifications are complete, creating a secure barrier around the core of the colony.
At the end of your first week in the colony, Alba Divenvaar approaches the four of you. "Good day, my friends. I have a request to make of you. I brought several raw materials for alchemical crafting with me, but I will need to build a larger stock if I hope to open my own business one day and support those in the colony who need my aid now. I have a list of alchemical and curative items the settlement needs for health and quality of life, such as antitoxin, and so I am searching for certain base compounds derived from rare plants, which I can use in a variety of different alchemical weapons, goods, and potions. I have a good lead on where these plants might be found, based upon some scouting performed by Lyra Heatherly. Lyra didn't actually find the plants in question, but her reports on the climate and local flora confirm that the conditions are right for these natural reagents to grow naturally.
"I have a map to the general area. I would like you to head to the location and gather the reagents. In exchange, I will use fifty percent of the value of what you harvest to create whatever you want in the form of potions or alchemical items."
Tessa takes the map and studies it, "Sure. I think we can do this. Do you have a list of the plants you want?"
"Of course." Alba hands you a list of different plants--ferns, mushrooms, and berry bushes.