Cuetzpalli is thankful he has a weapon designed for use underwater as the massive octopus grabs Spiny. The barbarian jams his shining trident into the beast twice, hoping to pierce its rubbery flesh.
Spiny does not like being grappled, and goes into a frenzy on the creature.
Cuetzpalli spears the octopus like a fish on a trident. Which is what it is. Spiny rends it with a claw, though the underwater terrain makes it hard for his slashing attacks to accomplish much.
The godfather follows the rest.
The octopus shudders. Its flesh seems to be sluggishly remolding, regenerating itself. It begins to secrete a jet black fluid.
Without warning, it sprays bubbling "ink" out into the water, straight towards Tanith, Cuetzpalli and Spiny.
Mega-Tanith paddles aside.
Eben looks left and right, trying to figure if he can squeeze in to the fight. In the end, he simply sighs (making a vaguely burbling noise underwater), sheathes his sword and draws his bow.
Gattel sticks his syringe back in its sheath and tries to swim above Eben, narrowly avoiding knocking the bard's bow from his hands.
The black ink scurries up Cuetzpalli's arm and Spiny's tail. For a moment, it seems to be forming mystical characters—almost like the words from a spellbook.
Then they give a flash.
Spiny feels his strength being sapped.
The octopus swims back five feet, its payload delivered.
Tanith grimaces as the acidic spray burns his flesh but powers forward and jabs at the monstrous octobeast with his sword-sized dagger.
Tanith moves over, though he takes a lash from the octopus as he goes.
Surprisingly, he's able to absorb it without noticeable injury, and he shrugs off the attempt to grab him.
He then moves forward and lunges, burying the knife in the enormous octopus's head. The octopus's pupil dilates and it recoils, looking badly hurt.
Cuetzpalli releases Spiny and tries to swim to the tentacled horror to grapple it.
Spiny meanwhile continues to attack the creature, ignoring his wounds.
Farrukh flails some more.
"Ah thib wbl balblost blot ib!"
Spiny tries to grab at the octopus. It's a feeble effort, and the octopus easily wriggles out of his grip.
Despite the inconveniently placed water, Spiny rips into the octopus. On his last slice, the claw just barely nicks the octopus's enormous eye, and Cuetzpalli feels the creature tensing.
Farrukh flails some more.
[dice=Cestus]1d20+12
[dice=Cestus 2]1d20+7
[dice=Bash 1]1d20+15
[dice=Cestus 1 Damage]1d4+11
[dice=Bash 1]1d6+12
"Ah thib wbl balblost blot ib!"
** spoiler omitted **
The creature is still reeling from Spiny's last blow and doesn't even see Farrukh snake in from the side, slashing the huge animal's head clean off. Farrukh's "words" prove to be prophetic.
The godfather nods, then hurries after Carina up the ladder.
"I bla blight!"
Farrukh beams and then swims for the ladder.
Upon reaching the top of the ladder, Carina finds herself standing on the pillar. The ceiling is roughly ten feet up. On top of the pillar is a large metal lever.
Not even had the chance to attempt to contribute to the fight, Eben throws his hands up in the air in frustration. Then he realizes he actually just threw his hands up in the water in frustration, sheathes his bow, and climbs up the ladder so he can properly throw his hands up in the air.
--------------
Relieved that the combat is over, Carina eyes the lever with some confusion.
"Huh... Mr. Wattel, is this the lever you were talking about?" She asks while she ponders what it can possibly do.
"Well... he claimed it lowers the water level..." Eben says to Carina. "...Which seems kinda redundant on this side of the pool, really..."
Carina nods. "Yep, looks like it does." She turns to the others as they begin to climb up after her. "I think we should find another exit first, before anyone pulls this lever--the watery passage is our only way back for now."
"Well, if you push it back again, would it re-flood the passage? And even if not... we can always just climb down the ladder here and back up the pit to the warehouse."
As the dead octocorpse drifts in the equally dead water, its tentacle detaches from Spiny's leg.
The severed few inches of tentacle fastened to Farrukh's arm maintain their grapple, however.
"I could swim back over and up, then tie a rope to the top so we can climb out if need be."
Farrukh pauses for a second and lifts up his arm.
"This thing sucks."
He tries to pry the tentacle off his skin.
"Well, if you push it back again, would it re-flood the passage? And even if not... we can always just climb down the ladder here and back up the pit to the warehouse."
Farrukh pries the tentacle off without any trouble.
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"Well, it looks like it works both ways, actually..." Carina shrugs.
She looks down at Spiny, noting how he doesn't look so good after the octopus grabbed him. "Is Spiny doing okay?"
Then her eyes widen. "And how on Oerth did he get so big?!"
"Eating mimic is apparently really good for dinosaurs."
Farrukh, on a whim, stows the tentacle in a little baggy on his belt pouch.
"I guess those invisible who-sits must've been really nutritious."
Gattel sheathes his sword and follows the godfather on the ladder. Emerging at the top, he coughs out a bit of brackish water. "Whew! There's a much easier way to do that, you know," he whispers to the godfather.
Cuetzpalli remounts Spiny, and together they clamber out of the water, streaming blood. It's apparent that both of them are wounded badly. "I hate it whenever we go under the water. I hate it so much."
"Well... but--but--" Carina stands there, slack-jawed at this anomaly in the laws of Nature.
Great. First I accidentally get my friend killed, then in the span of a few minutes, our pet spinosaurus has grown to the size of a war horse. Am I going crazy? I hope not--everyone else seems to see this too... at least Other Me isn't around anymore, despite ANY POSSIBLE INDICATIONS TO THE CONTRARY.
Cuetzpalli starts to feel weak as the octopus's venom takes its toll.
Gattel Watam seems not to notice Carina's enquiry. He begins to shiver, remarking, "Oh, in case you three were wondering, that octopus was in fact a modified octopus. Normal ones aren't that big."
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Eben starts prestidigitating himself dry. "So we've got an unnaturally large octopus, an unnaturally large dinosaur, and now an unnaturally large Kordite. Since you're responsible for number three there, is that going to wear off or are we going to have to start leaving Tanith outside when we go into buildings?"
Gattel sheathes his sword and follows the godfather on the ladder. Emerging at the top, he coughs out a bit of brackish water. "Whew! There's a much easier way to do that, you know," he whispers to the godfather.
The godfather blinks at Gattel. "Hm?"
He looks over as Cuetzpalli rises. "Whoa. No offense, but the two of you look almost as bad as the octopus. Need some help?"
"Modified by what?"
After emerging from the water, Tanith produces his healing wand again and starts tending to the injured.
"Let's get fixed up a bit before you pull that lever. There's no telling what else is waiting down here for us."
"Can someone heal me and Spiny please?" Cuetzpalli asks. "I suspect we'll need to do more fighting soon."
"Modified by an experiment! The eye is important. And no, the large man will shrink in just a short time."