You might have to let the waters recede a little..meanwhile there are a couple of dozen people in the church you could ferry to drier land. You might even get some answers from the local priest
Inikai suggests using the boat to ferry survivors from the church to dry land. As they make their journeys, Inikai takes the opportunity to question the townsfolk about Black Magga and also about any recent strange occurrences. He concentrates on those people who do not seem to be in a state of shock.
Esteriande sets the boat to ferrying the people in the church to shore.
"'As anything like zis ever 'appened before?" she asks Father Shreed as he is evacuated - no doubt with the last of the sick and the refugees.
The massive creature continues to forge a way back towards the Storval Deep under the watchful eyes of the small hawk but it has a long way to go yet
Father Shreed explains what he knows of the creature.
"She if such a being can truely have a sex, is a herald of Lamashtu, perhaps the greatest of her servants to dwell on the Mortal Plane.The Legends speak of her appearance during the Thassilonian Empires rule of these lands though she has not been seen for many hundreds of years before today.Often thought dead she returns infrequently but with devestating force as you saw"
"We 'ad better follow 'er upstream...and find out what ees going on," Esteriande sighs. Once the villagers are safe she directs the boat to collect the whole party and their mounts, and then upstream...
Once they are on there way upstream Inikai voices his thoughts to the others. "Underneath Sandpoint there was a temple to Lamashtu among the Thassilonian structures. Then there was a priestess of Lamashtu at Thistletop. She intended to make a burnt offering of Sandpoint to her goddess. Then we confronted cultists of Norgorber in Foxglove's estate. Now we witness a herald of Lamashtu in the flesh."
"I am still no closer to understanding who we face, behind all these attacks. Nor do I understand the design behind them."
He looks at the others with a questioning expression.
"Who says they're connected? Nualia was goblin-town. Foxglove had toys in the attic. Ironbriar had bats in the belfry. Crazy doesn't need a plan."
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"I fear this Black Magga may be beyond our ability to dispatch with spell and blade, do we know of another means to return it from whence it came, perhaps by slaying it's conjurer, or closing whatever unclean portal it crawled from?"
Marak reflects upon his studies into the practices of diverse faiths, seeking for some information as to how such a Herald might be called up, or, more importantly, sent back...
"Well our swords did nothing at all. I think we're all depending on you, Marak."
"Would it not make more sense to go after whatever caused the flood and drove the creature down here than attempting to chase something we are unlikely to catch?"
AliHawk continues to track the beast from the air, flying high enough that she can keep both the creature and the town in sight. Once her packmates finally hop in the boat and begin to follow, she flies lower, now keeping monster and boat in sight.
Father Shreed will voice his fears that the great Dam at Skulls crossing has been tampered with.
"The Creature could not gain access to here without it having been opened"
Knowledge history on this Dam at Skull crossing
Knowledge engineering same subject
"It makes sense that an intelligent being would be behind this. Let's head to the dam and investigate."
To Father Sneed he asks "What lives in the area of the dam? Who maintains it?"
"Our swords didn't even scratch it, and the magic users don't have a solid plan to deal with this thing. Rather than run off wombly after it, let's shuffle to Monument City and get his worship the mayor to billy up a gang."
Knowledge(local), the dam and Storval Deep.
The ranger looks upstream, the direction of the dam, then looks back at his companions with mild frustration. "As I said we should go upstream to the cause of this, not after the beast. We need to know what caused all this to happen." Muchorak then looks at Inikai and Romon, "Demons choose only to cause chaos, or as some would call it crazy. It seems their plan is just that."
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After his unsuccessful reflection, Marak speaks up, "I know of no way to send such a creature back. Let's move to the site of the dam and see if we can find the fool who brought it here. Perhaps the conjuring will end with his death."
He'll expend a charge of channeled energy on those rescued from the flood, in case any have suffered injury, and then begin moving upstream, once he has recovered his horse.
"Zen let us go upstream while we 'ave ze boat, it will go at sunset. If ze dam fails, zere will be a tragedy far beyond zis flood. For zat matter, zis rain 'as been....incessant, nes pas?"
"I suppose that right now it does not matter what our enemies' aim is, if they do have one."
.... "As I said we should go upstream to the cause of this, not after the beast. We need to know what caused all this to happen." Muchorak then looks at Inikai and Romon, "Demons choose only to cause chaos, or as some would call it crazy. It seems their plan is just that."
Romon looks triumphantly at Inikai. "Even Mucho's on my side! Crazy wins."
Inikai sticks his tongue out at Romon in response.
As Esteriande speaks about the weather you suddenly realise that the rain has stopped.
Skulls crossing is a major work of Thassilonian Engineering reckoned to be one of the wonders of Varisia.It controls the water flow from the Storval Deep to Claybottom Lake and as it's name might suggest has a serious skulls motif being decorated with thousands of carved skulls,the five largest of which act as sluice gates.
It's almost 20 miles to the dam by river and with the current coming down the river it will take you a full day to sail there.
Alternatively you could ride to the Dam in about 4-5 hours along the road.
"Come on lets gets going." Naria sounding more and more excited as she realises where it is they will be going
Then we ride. Esteriande will leave the boat with the Father Shreed to use to continue rescue efforts, if they are needed, once we are back on the far bank with our horses.
Excellent. Our hope of escape once we find that thing is a lot better on land.
"If the road stays along the wood line we may be able to hide our approach as well."
Romon nods approvingly. A stealthy approach is a smart approach.
The woods along the road peter out after the Fort Rannick turn off and it is constrained between the bulk of the mountains on one side and the river gorge on the other.By it's state of repar you can telol,that this road is not often travelled and minor rock falls and other debris slow you down somewhat.
Eventually you can see the massive edifice of the Dam the skuls off which seem to glower at you.
The Massive tentacled bulk that is Black Magga is dragging itself over the dam as it comes into view still over half a mile away
"Its size is impressive even at this distance." Muchorak will take a quick look around from their current location to see if there is a way to get to the top of the damn...
Perception ;+2 more if this area counts as mountainous.
"As long as it stays in ze lake above, I will be more zan 'appy," Esteiande mutters. "But...Fazzer Shreed said zat ze sluice gates normally opened...why 'ave zey not done so?"
"Oh would you look at that thing." Naria eagerly points at the damn "Have you ever seen a more beutifull well constructed thing in all your life." She practicly bounses in her saddle as she says all this.
"The Arvensoar, for one," Romon replies deadpan. "Beautifully delicate, elegantly tapering to its ultimate height. And none of those gauche skulls."
"Please the Arvensoar is only the tinest fraction of the age this thing is."
Are they really arguing about dams?
"Someone has to open the sluice gates, right? If so, I bet we find dead bodies where those people are supposed to be."
Romon completely disregards Inikai's imminently practical question to argue the merits of his home tomwn's architecture.
"Old is no guarantee of beauty, or wisdom. But if you want old, we've got the Irespan. It must have been wonderfully beautiful in its day and it's got to be twice the age of that pile."
"Well yes that is old but when you get down to it it's essentially just a bridge a large and impressive bridge to be sure but still just a bridge.....that and most of it is missing." Naria also missing the suggestion getting way into the debate with Romon.
"Well, most of it is missing because it's so old. Nothing lasts forever. I imagine in a century or two this dam will just be a little bump in the river while the Irespan and Arvensoar will still be standing proud."
"I would hope not since if this dam ends up as a little bump everything downstream of it is going to end up washed away."
"Speaking of 'washed away', that is what will happen to everything around here if that ugly giant fish-opus gets out again. Let's go check out the gate controls and see who or what is there now."
After a moment of hesitation, Inikai adds "There might be loot that we can relieve from unfriendlies."
Romon's head snaps to look at Inkai.
"Beyond ze dam lies ze Storval Deep, a massive lake," she muses. "If ze dam gives way everyone in ze town will be killed....flooding would take place all ze way to Magnimar."
Esteriande also eyes the construction with an architect's eye.
Knowledge (engineering):
"Come, we 'ad best not waste furzer time!" She urges Greyfog forward.
The eastern slopes of the gorge are sheer and slick with rain, but to the west, a narrow stone stairway, its edge decorated with hundreds of poles bearing the skulls of as many different creatures, winds up to a cave mouth near the western rim of the dam itself.
The easternmost of the immense skulls (which would appear to be the sluice gates) is all but hidden by a steady flow of cascading water pouring through what appears to be a recent break in the dam. For now, the ancient dam seems to be holding its own against the Storval Deep, but unless these rains end soon, the recent flood looks to be but a minor precursor to a fantastic disaster.
and yes it is raining again.
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"Ali, Naria, would either of you have any capacity to alter the weather? If this dam breaks, everything south of here is going to die." Marak says quietly.
Nethys, destroyer and protector, this jumped-up fertility demon seeks to challenge your primacy as a god of destruction. Grant me the strength to prove her false.
He wracks his brain for means to break any sort of magical ritual or incantation to affect the weather on such a scale, or to call forth a beast like this Black Magga.
Naria dosent seem to hear Marak as she stars at the eastermost skull
Knowledge engineering to asertain what may have caused the break
Naria reckons that some thing very heavy hit the dam from the Storval Deep Side..The most likely candidate is now swimming away into said Deep.
The talk of commanding the weather causes Inikai to go quiet. How can a mortal even imagine such a feat.
To distract himself, he focuses his attention on the dam itself and Naria's observations on it. How she can determine anything about it is a mystery to him. He then follows the line of steps into the cavern with his eye. Of course the sluice will be controlled from there. And, of course, something obscene will be inside the cave.
"Up we go then." Muchorak and Ursus move to the steps to begin their ascent.