Valghaz chuckled. "Aye! Perhaps this goes to show that we should avoid crustacions. Iffin' our employer asks us to end a coven o' vampires? Fine we'll do it. Go fishin' for a day? We be doomed."
Elaina's hand and wet scarf help by giving Mimi something other than the pain of the stings to focus on. After she follows the rope to the end, Mimi sits down carefully. She gives Elaina an absent pat on the arm and says "Thank you."
She is still glassy-eyed, and doesn't seem entirely coherent even though the pain has slackened a little.
Arya chuckles along with Valghaz and Arenel's banter as she holds the rope steady for the others to use. Those two could be funny, when they weren't angry.
As Mimi passes by, Arya is glad to see her looking a little better thanks to Elaina's help.
"Nice work, you made it." she tries to sound reassuring.
Once everyone else has caught up, she calls out to Arenel. "Okay, now your turn, just take it easy and you should be fine!"
After successfully navigating the slippery path, you come to a pool of deeper water. The tide is clearly at work here, as the pool sloshes to an and fro. To the southwest, what looks like another tunnel leads away from the pool.
"I wanna go for a swim!" Elaina declares enthusiastically at the sight of the pool. She begins to doff her armor and casts an eye over the water for sea monsters. "You should come too, Mimi. I bet the water will make you feel better."
"Yeah yeah... I'm coming..." Arenel sighed as she began to make her way, slowly rolling up the rope as she moved.
-----------
"We need to get out of here quickly. If we had to wait for the tied to go out just to cross, I don't want to know what this area will look like when it comes back." Arenel said.
As Arenel went across, Valghaz held the rope tight to make it easier for her to go across.
Afterwords, still holding the rope he follows across.
Mimi spends a good long time looking carefully into the water, searching for signs of urchins. She declines Elaina's invitation.
"I can swim, but I'm not a swimmer. Where I'm from it's mostly desert. I think I'll wait until we're ready to leave."
The pool sloshes to and fro. There's definitely some tidal action in place, though it doesn't look overwhelming. The same tide makes it difficult to determine the depths of the pool.
Mimi - you do not see any urchins.
Once everyone is safely across, Arya quickly bundles up her rope and stuffs it back into her pack.
"It looks like swimming might be a necessity if we want to find our way out of these tunnels. I don't think the water level is going to get any lower than this, and I suggest we don't wait around for it to get deeper."
Arya holds her sword with her pack and tries her best to keep them dry as she wades into the pool. She carefully slides one foot in front of the other, trying not to plunge into any depressions in the floor.
Hopefully this won't get too deep...
"I agree with you Arya. The deeper the water gets the worse it will be." Arenel said with a nod. "Who is the tallest out of is?" Arenel asked as she looked around. "Arya, I do believe that is you." She stated as she pointed at Arya. "What do you say you test the waters, see how deep it goes? But don't go past your stomach okay?"
"Good thinking Arenel" Arya calls back, casting her eyes over her shorter companions.
She continues wading forward into the pool, holding her pack clutched to her chest, above the water line. The feeling of the salt water against her legs gives her some comfort, although the experience would definitely be more enjoyable under the warm sun.
As she makes her way forward she remains conscious of how deep the water gets, trying to find a way through that keeps her stomach dry.
The floor of the pool quickly drops away...after only a few feet, you will need to swim.
Elaina had begun unlacing her tunic after pulling her armor over her head and dropping it to the ground, but stopped when she noticed Arya's caution. She knows the most about water, I bet. But why is she being so careful? It's just a pool. She had never been in water deeper than she could stand in and had never been in ocean water at all. The bard folds her arms across her chest and taps her foot impatiently, waiting for the sailors judgement.
Arya stops as she feels the edge of the drop off with her toes. She frowns.
"I don't think wading through here is going to be an option."
Arya secures her rapier to the top of her pack and adjusts it so that she is wearing it on her back. Some of her things would have to get wet, but at least her arms would be free to swim.
Good thing it's not too heavy.
"How are you all at swimming?"
Arya steps out into the deeper water and begins treading water, but her legs feel stiff in the cold. Her gear, though only a light load, tugs awkwardly at her shoulders.
"Fairly damn good if I do say so myself." Arenel said with a smirk. "Took to the water rather well as a kid. Lets see if it carried into my adulthood."
Arenel headed into the water, getting to the deeper area.
Valghaz watches in horror. "Do we need to...swim...out?" He never swam before, but he knew that to have any chance he'd have to ditch everything. His armor, his hammer...the only thing scarier than that was the idea of drowning.
"You want to wait till high tide?" Arenel asked Valghaz with a smirk still on her lips.
"Maybe one of us should scout the way before we all commit? Some of us are probably not great swimmers" she says with a glance at Valghaz. "I have something I can use to do it."
Mimi pulls a small glass tube from one of her bandoliers. "This formula transforms me into a mermaid of sorts. I could use it to see where this goes, then we can decide if we want to try it. Really if you think about it only one of us really must swim out. Then that person could just go around and reopen the trap door."
"I happen to be a superb swimmer." Elaina lies, having no idea herself whether she could swim or not. She twists her sword on its belt so it might remain out of the water, then wades in up to her thighs. The pool looked like it would be fun to swim in, and she was eager to try, but she didn't want to find out she couldn't swim after all and embarrass herself in front of the others, especially Arenel. "Maybe Mimi's right." She grumbles, her wisps sinking into the center of the pool, the light diffusing through the water and giving the pool a magical glow.
Arya and Arenel both slip into the water, and although they're able to tread water safely, the sloshing of the pool is apparently stronger than they judged, and they're not able to make any headway in exploring the pool.
"I agree, that's a good idea Mimi. The current is stronger than it looks, it could be deadly. If you have a way to make it through safely, perhaps you should take a look."
Arya looks over at Valghaz with all of his heavy gear.
"I think we'd have to double back to the entrance to collect some of our things anyway, so having a smaller group go open the trapdoor for the rest of us could be a safer way to get out of here."
"Aye, a right good idea. Though be careful. That there water nay looks safe. Could have me an Arenel watch the gear."
"I can remain behind and watch the gear with him, I'm a good swimmer so if I need to come after you guys through the water it shouldn't take me long. Plush I can slowly move our gear over and we can catch up to you." Arenel commented with a shrug.
"Great, Mimi did you want to scout ahead? Elaina and I can follow behind you in case you run into any trouble. Then once we've found a way out we can make our way back around to the entrance and meet Valghaz and Arenel at the trapdoor."
"Yes, I'll give it a go."
Mimi walks out into the water about waist deep to simplify the transformation. First time ever with this, I hope it works.
She uncorks and drinks the contents of the vial and waits. Within moments her fingers grow webbing between them. She smiles as she watches. It works! and it's not even painful!
When the change is complete, she swims forward to begin checking the passage, giving a flick of her legs. They break the water, showing off the flippers that have replaced her feet. "Let's go!"
Underwater at the bottom of the pool, you find a submerged tunnel leading to the north. About three feet into the tunnel is a metal grate affixed to the walls, blocking passage.
Elaina removes her tunic and skirt, dropping them unceremoniously with her armor. She tightens her sword belt, which normally hangs loosely about her hips, around her waist, hoping the sheath would keep water from the blade. Salt water was terrible for metal, but she didn't want to leave her sword in case the vampire lord or sea monsters awaited them. She stands on the edge of the pool in her underwear, hugging herself and bouncing on the balls of her feet. Her stomach twists with nervous excitement and she grins at Arya as Mimi swims out. "This is exciting!"
Mimi looks over the door well to get an idea of it's condition and to see if it is locked. She checks the metal grate to see how strong or corroded the metal is. Then she returns to the others to report what's she's found.
Mimi resurfaces near the others and relates what she's found to them.
"There isn't a direct way out. But there is a door down the passage a ways. There's also a lower, underwater tunnel blocked by a metal grate. It almost looks like a drain or a connection to equalize water levels."
Arya smiles at Elaina standing excitedly on the edge of the water.
"Come on in, it's not too cold once you get used to it."
Arya waits as Mimi swims away, marvelling at the transformation. When the alchemist returns she can't help but exclaim "That was incredible!"
"The door might be our best option, unless you have some way of getting through the metal grate. In that case maybe you could see where that leads? Even so I'm not sure I like the idea of swimming down an underwater passage."
Since they were waiting on Mimi's decision, Elaina takes her sword belt off, setting it gently atop the pile of her other things, and accepts Arya's invitation. She steps carefully into the pool, gingerly placing her feet to avoid slipping. She walks in till the water reaches her naval, then sits so the water rises to her shoulders. The moving water was an unfamiliar feeling, but an enjoyable one, and the cool water relieved some of the soreness born from sleeping on a cave floor.
"If we can get the door open, we can probably tie a rope to part of it and everyone can follow the rope across the pool. Everyone gets wet, but it would be easier than climbing out of the trap door we came in and no chance of anyone getting lost." Elaina muses, sliding back and forth to add little waves to the pool.
Arenel got out of the water and joined Valghaz at the side of the water. "Be careful." Arenel told the group before they swam off.
Once they had gotten out of sight Arenel looked to Valghaz. "Not a swimmer huh?" She smiled.
"Nay lass, I'm not. But we get to spend some time together. Not the biggest fan o' bein' stuck in this hole. But it doesn't seem quite so bad now."
"You're just saying that because we don't have to deal with Elaina." Arenel said jokingly. "But I have to agree, the company does make for an improvement."
With Mimi lost in thought, presumably over the door, Elaina decides to try her hand at swimming. How hard could swimming be? I just move my arms like a bird to fly through water. She tells herself. She wades through the water till she has to stand on her toes to keep her head from submerging, then takes a deep breath and another step.
Valghaz shifted uncomfortably, painfully aware that they were finally alone. At length he said "I pride meself on knowing most weapons out there. But I be embarrassed to admit, I've ne'er seen anythin' quite like the...metal whip, ye got there. It looks awfully difficult to use. So I be guessin' there be a story behind it?"
Mimi stays in the deeper water. She's not sure how well her flippers would work for standing.
"The grate is very solid. I checked to see if it had been weakened by corrosion and it hasn't. It would be serious work to remove it I think. The door is better. Maybe we could work on getting it open, and if we can we can bring everyone across to it. It's not very far, and mostly straight on. A rope should work well for those who don't swim."
"Nine section whip." Arenel said as she took it from her hip and handed it over to Valghaz. "I wanted something that was difficult to learn. After all many people train for years to have some for of power. Mine just kinda, comes from my blood. So to balance that out I chose a weapon that is difficult to learn and even more difficult to master." She explained. "So, you know weapons huh? Weapon master or smith? My guess is a smith, at least your muscles suggest such." She smiled.
Creature: hp 27/27; AC/T/FF 15/12/13; Fort/Ref/Will +2/+3/+4; vs Feint 13
Mimi's ability to swim through the water with very little effort (unlike Elaina's) combined with the rope allows the group to make it across the pool and to the door, which turns out to be stuck in its frame...nothing a little forceful application of muscle couldn't fix. Bashing in the door reveals a chamber with a horrific smell, a cloying stink of rotten meat rising from the bloated, seeping body slumped in the middle of the floor.
On the other side of the room is a door that looks like it was once intended to be secret, as it would blend into the wall perfectly if it wasn't hanging open. As you enter the room, a creature enters it from this secret door.
The creature hisses in anger when it spots Valghaz, and rakes two claws across the dwarf opening two ragged gashes on him.
Arya watches with concern as Elaina begins to struggle in the water. Mimi's plan with the rope was definitely going to be the way to go.
She breaths a sigh of relief when everyone makes it across the pool and draws her sword before they make their way through the door.
As she hears the sound of the creature in the chamber ahead Arya quickly makes her way forward. She quickly ducks past Valghaz across to the opposite corner of the room.
Once she's in position, she makes a quick slash at the creature with her rapier.
The formulae Mimi had consumed barely lasts long enough for her to secure the ropes for the crossing. As its effect ends, her transformation is reversed and she returns to normal.
She has barely finished stowing equipment from the crossing when she hears trouble break out in the room behind the door. She rushes over to get a look, then selects one of the bolts she has fitted with acid to load onto her crossbow.
She aims carefully to thread the needle of the corridor and the people in it, and squeezes the trigger. The bolt flies true, hitting the undead thing. The bolt pierces it and releases its payload of acid as it enters its body.
Elaina flounders in the water. It's not like flying at all... She thinks, dejected. Powerless against the current, she lets it push her back into shallower water and stands, blushing furiously with embarrassment at her failure. Now they all know I can't swim. I should just drown myself right now.
After crossing and recovering her clothing and sword, Elaina neatly folds her clothes and sets them atop her armor. She chants a few words and uses prestidigitation to clean her possessions, picking up her tunic and holding it up for inspection before dressing, pulling on her boots, and donning her armor. She was more comfortable without the clothing and armor, but there were monsters down here. She buckles on her sword belt and draws her scimitar, casting another light spell on it to light their way.
"Eeeek!" Elaina screams as the monster reveals itself. "Another monster!" The not-swim left her humiliated and the night sleeping on the floor left her tired and cranky, but the trip across the pool had refreshed her and she leaps into monster-slaying action. The bard slides past Valghaz, ducking under the monsters slashing claws and delivers her own slash in return, just managing to to connect with her blade.
"I think that is what's causing the zombies." Arenel said before she pointed two fingers at the monster and spoke in some language. Frost covered her arm and collected at her fingers before shooting off at the creature, however the shot went wide and hit the back wall.
The young magus muttered a curse as he spell missed the mark.
Creature: hp 8/27; AC/T/FF 15/12/13; Fort/Ref/Will +2/+3/+4; vs Feint 13
Arya's rapier thrust is perfectly placed, but the blade skids off the creature's surprisingly thick, tough skin. Mimi's crossbow bolt just manages to nick the creature, and the accompanying acid is much more effective. Elaina's scimitar proves no more effective than Arya's rapier.
Valghaz's hammer crushes into the creature's side, audibly breaking several bones. Incredibly, the creature is still standing, and attacks Valghaz again, one claw drawing a line of blood from the dwarf.
Huecuvas have an aura of faithlessness about them that fortifies the resistance of all undead within it against channeled energy.
Arya lunges again at the creature, making sure to catch its eyes with the flash of her blade. She makes a move to attack the creature's side but pulls back at the last moment.
Whipping the point of her rapier around, she slides it up and into the creature's chest.
"Eeeek! It's invulnerable!" Elaina screams. Despite her theatrics she manages to sink her blade deep into the monsters hip, holding her sword close to her body and taking advantage of the crowded space. She was small and close quarters combat suited her.
With so much crowding around the undead creature Mimi trades her crossbow for a bomb. She lobs it high, maybe a little too high to catch the thing full in the body. But the shot's arc directs the splash directly back, away from her companions, who remain safe.