Ederion climbs back up and informs the others of what he has found.
"Ugh. Obviously something important is down there or there wouldn't be these kinds of threats left around it," says Rexandi.
She waits nervously for Bazzle to check out the grate.
"Well we should to to be careful. Let me check it for traps."
Bazzle quietly slips into the water in order to get over to the rusty grate. His darkvision gives him a wider view of the area, showing the far wall some 40-50 feet away. There's a second door further down, still attached to the Western wall, and just South of that is an open passageway. Bazzle doesn't spot any traps in the traditional sense, but he knows that this rusted grate could squeak mighty loud if he doesn't take it apart carefully. The inside of the shaft is made of stone, and just barely large enough for someone human sized to squeeze through. Uncomfortable, but doable. Being a Gnome, Bazzle can shimmy through there without much issue at all.
Just as he's about to try taking apart the grate, Bazzle hears a muffled sound travelling below the water. It sounds like... singing.
Ederion is up top, but still keeps watch over the lip of the well.
Bazzle moves up as fast as he can. Reaching up a hand. "Singing. That really can't be good. Get me out of the kill tube." He looks at whoever is holding the water breathing wand. "We might need that. Knowing our look someone is getting pulled in. . . There is a door down there too."
"Did you manage to open the grate?" - Ederion questions, pulling Bazzle up.
"No. I heard singing. Last time I opened a lock we fought a rock monster." He cocks his head to the right. "I can try but I have a bad feeling about this."
"I wonder if there is a mermaid down there" - Ederion jests, looking over the lip of the well.
"Those are the pretty girls that lure sailors to their doom right."
"That's right" - the elf chuckles.
"Want me to guard you while you open the grate?" Asks Tarnagius."I don't think a mermaid would be as dangerous as a succubus, especially if we stay above water."
"Dank holes filled with water." Aster sighes, unfrotunately she had a childhood filled with such places. At least this water didn't smell. "I'll help." Aster asks to be tapped with the water breathing wand, and to be lowered down to the water. Then she'll shift not to her half rat woman form but to her full massive rat.
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Aster gets a tap of the wand and shifts into a rat the size of the average dog. She slips quietly into the water and paddles with more proficiency that most humanoids.
Aster hears a song beneath the surface of the water. It's calm and soothing, but in a language she doesn't understand. It sounds elven, perhaps sylvan. The sound is coming from the Western door.
"Hit me with the water breathy stuff. And I will get it open."
Bazzle not unlike bait goes back in the hole. He carefully checks the gate.
Cracking his knuckles Bazzle shakes his shoulders out and then carefully begins to prod and pick the device to open it.
Bazzle gets tapped with the wand, and then sets himself to the task of opening the grate. Opening it is easy for Bazzle, but opening it quietly is the trickier part. He doesn't find any traps, but does notice that the singing suddenly stops. He hears something like rusty hinges squeaking, then a quick, muffled scream. Then the place is silent.
Bazzle finishes opening the grate without issue. The area beyond is made of stone, and juts into a fork about 5 feet in. One to the left, and the other to the right.
Legends of Mermaids have existed for generations, usually being found by asking cautious fishermen and experienced sailors. As anyone would expect, a Mermaid has the upper body of a beautiful young woman, and has the lower body of a fish. They are dangerous creatures who use their alluring body and song to entice men to jump into the water for them. What they do to the men is unknown, but it's suspected that they kill them and eat them like a swarm of ravenous fish. Stories are told of Mermaids assaulting ships by trying to capsize them, or poke holes into the hull. Any sailor or fisherman will tell you "If'n ye hear the song ova lovely maid, plug yer ears right quick! Tis the fish callin ye to tha water to feast on yer flesh. Close yer eyes and stay away from the water!"
Mermaid bodies have been shown before in museums and other such places, but many believe that they may just be elaborate hoaxes.
More information can be revealed with a sufficiently high result.
There is a story told in both the texts of Aroden and the stories of Gozreh that tell of the Mermaid. Both versions have very different view points, but the basics are that Mermaids were once human druids who tried to use magic to permanently change their bodies to be both man and beast beneath the waves. Several Gods took offense to this, including Aroden, who saw it as heresy to mutilate the human form. The Gods fought and argued amongst each other, and finally cursed or blessed the druids. The Gods involved were Aroden, Gozreh, Shelyn, Lamashtu, and Abadar. The druids became Mermaids who were dependent on man, but also persecuted as vile monsters who were punished by the Gods for their sins. They lurk in the shallows to take advantage of humans, for they need them in order to survive.
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With little squeaks and cute paw movements, Aster indicates she'll go forward and see what might be there. The dog sized rat slips through the grate with ease and swims. Water being the only place the middle aged pear shaped woman with a club foot can be graceful... too bad it was also only when she was a shaggy big toothed rat.
Ederion has heard of a cult in Kintargo simply called 'Mermen'. They are a small group of eccentric human men who have an infatuation with mermaids. They are best known for their anniversary leap from the pier into coastal waters, which they refer to as the yearly mating ritual. There have been rumours of men disappearing after plunging into the water, only to arrive back in Kintargo by road a day later. They claim to have been part of a mermaid orgy.
Those who know of the cult generally shun its members, and as a result members are quite secretive of their activities.
Aster hops into the ventilation shaft made of stone. It isn't wet here, being just out of reach of the water, but Aster's small size and darkvision makes it easily to navigate. When she looks through the opening to the south, she sees through the grate the room on the other side of that waterlogged door. She immediately spots a ruined torture rack, as well as a whipping post on the far wall. There is a cage against the wall, so narrow that a human would be almost squished. A mass of beautiful seashells lays next to the rack, all piled into a stack taller than Bazzle.
The other opening of the shaft actually extends straight up. It wouldn't be too hard for someone to climb though, since they could brace against the far wall. The shaft extends about 10 feet up, then heads due West.
Aster scurries up the shaft by using her tail to brace against the far wall. She gets up to the top and sneaks West, where she finds a grate and opening. She sees a long hallway with many rusty iron doors from a bird's (rat's) eye view. Three very strange creatures lurk under the water. There is a flabby, obese woman with tentacle arms holding a mermaid covered in goop. The mermaid is trying to struggle free, but the woman has her locked down firmly. There is another creature there, who looks not too unlike a mermaid, but it is a man with twisted bones sprouting around his body. He is pale white, contrasted by a massive glowing red eye in the center of his forehead. The eye is staring at the mermaid, covering her in red light. She screams for a second, then passes out. The tentacle obese woman tosses her through the nearby open door, then slams it shut. The two monsters move South out of sight.
Aster decides she's pushed her luck enough for one day and dashed back to her friends, starting to tell them all she saw before realizing squeaks were not going to be enough and shifted back into her normal human form to tell them.
"I think the singing came from the mermaid, which the others did not appreciate. They headed to the south, which makes me think they are headed this way. Should we try and ambush them? We can't leave someone who might be held against their will at their mercy."
"Agreed" - Ederion nods - "But fighting them underwater will be a monumental task Aster" - he adds - "From your description, water seems to be their environment, while it is definitely not ours... So we need some other approach than brute force"
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Ederion doesn't know of a way to drain the flooded level. It will really depend on how the water flooded the area. Was the place originally sealed off and later broke? Or was the place drained before by some incredible spell?
Aster as a rat again will go try and find the mermaid. And if by some chance she gets some divine inspiration on where another could be...
Ms Ninja Rat Cobblestone slinks into the ventilation shaft to find the mermaid. Unfortunately when she arrives at the hallway where the mermaid was seen, she notices the grate which blocks the way. She could potentially ram through it, but it's unlikely to be subtle. The good news is that there doesn't seem to be any movement down there, and no guards or other enemies can be seen.
"I dunno, seems like a standoff - we wouldn't want to get in the water, they wouldn't want to come out. Not sure how to turn this into a conflict we can win," says Rexandi as she chews her lip a bit and thinks about the problem.
These monsters are one and the same: Skum.
Skum were once humanoids, before they were captured and taken down to the depths of the ocean. They are tortured, misshapen, experimented on by their cruel Aboleth masters, who turn them into mindless slaves. These slaves may be made into armies, raiders looking for more 'recruits', or scouts who search the surface for threats or vulnerabilities. Each Skum is unique, as each one mutates in strange ways.
Some Skum possess a glowing red eye in the center of their forehead. That Skum is directly linked to its Aboleth master, who controls it and by extension all the other Skum in the area by telepathy. Skum are capable of complex tactics and very efficient teamwork, but if the eye is destroyed they become near-mindless.
All Skum have darkvision, a swim speed (which varies), and are resistant (but not immune) to mind-affecting effects while the Aboleth has control over them. It is easier to take control of a slave rather than the commander. Skum speak the same languages as their Aboleth overlord.
"This is not good," says Rexandi. "Those creatures were skum - uh, with a 'k' - minions for aboleths. The one with the red eye - that kind of eye is used by aboleths to see through the senses of their minions."
"Well one can only try" Aster squeaks to herself. The dog sized rat throws herself against the grate.
As she bounces off, Aster looks a little embarrassed, as much as rats can. "Well that didn't work." she muses, like she didn't already know that failed miserably. But part of her thinks the grate might have wobbled a little as her slightly padded rat hips rammed into them.
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to try One more time." and throws herself at it again.
If she had any real ability to dance, she might have done a happy one, but she doesn't and wouldn't wish even No One to see that. But she does stop to listen quickly to see if bad things are swiming toward her.
The grate breaks off the shaft with a loud squeak and falls into the water below. As she listens carefully, she at first thinks nothing heard it, but then she hears the sound of a waterlogged door being wrenched open. Someone may be headed this way, though distant. Further, if they spy the grate now laying at the bottom of the water, her hiding spot may be compromised.
Aster will climb down quick as a pinch, grab the grate in her mouth and try and climb back up to hide it.
Aster dives into the water very quietly to pick up the fallen grate. She looks up and sees that the shaft comes out of the ceiling, so it would be neigh impossible for her rat form to leap out of the water high enough to grab the edge and haul herself up. She does have options however: She could turn into human/hybrid form and haul herself back into the grate, she could try to hide behind one of the doors, or she could try to fight whatever is approaching. What really matters is time.
"Hmmm... didn't think this one through, did you Aster?" she mutter-thinks to herself before finding the best little hidey hole for a large rat. And then waits to see if she'll get eaten.
Aster picks the oldest trick in the book: Hide behind the door. Just in time too, for the door is flung open very forcefully, squeaking terribly upon its rusted hinges. The fat tentacle woman floats past Aster, using her tentacles to pull herself around in the water rather than swim. She moves down the hall, then opens a door, slams it, then opens another, then slams it. Finally she pulls herself back into sight, but she doesn't notice Aster. A slimy tentacle wraps around the end of the door, just a few inches from Aster's nose, then slams the door shut behind her. Aster is safe.
Aster will swim down to the door, shift to her more normal form of a wet and scared woman. Reaching for the door knob, she'll pause. "This really isn't my thing, locks and traps, but I could at least check."
Then she'll whisper as she tries to open, "Hello, I'm a friend, or want to be. Bazzle an enchanting inquistive gnome friend of mine, heard your singing and was quite taken by it, so I came to see if we could help you."