"Hard to Port lads!" Cyrus calls out.
Irdril shifts her tiny frame in an attempt help move the boat..
Kanzen attempts to add his weight to the turn.
The group works together and manages to steer the boat around the bend with crashing. They come shooting out of the racing tunnel only to find themselves thrust onto a shallow sandbar. It seems the only way to get it off is to get out and push! But stepping into the Darklake isn't a very tempting possibility... Especially when you notice the three dark shapes approaching the boat! They surge forward to attack, hungry maws opening wide!
Galenus waits for the right time to strike, swinging his axe down on an approaching creature.
Galinndan starts shoving, thinking back to one thing he did say to Kanzen:
"The surface? The biggest difference: the sun, moon and stars. There is day, when the sun is visible in the sky, and there is much light. Then night, where the weaker light of the moon and stars shines. Clouds can cover all of these and bring rain, but that is not all the time. Here, it is like the darkest of nights, all of the time, and no sky."
"And the sky! No ceilings, just open space all the way up."
Irdril will ready a Blast for when the creatures show..
Bonus Action if she can.
Buppido throws back his head and laughs and laughs. "Silly little ixitxachitl! You can't stop me from reaching Gracklstugh, home of my divinity!"
Derro like Buppido are the second-largest portion of Gracklstugh's population, after Duergar.
Ixitxachitl are aberrations shaped like manta rays with barbed tails. They are constrained to the water for the most part but will leap up and attack those in the boat the best they can as it is not far out of the water.
You wrote a small book on ixitxachitl.
Eddrikk leaps from the boat into the water.
He attempts to shove the boat loose but is unable to get sound footing
Kanzen joins the effort to free the boat from the shoal.
As he pushes, he screws his eyes shut for a moment with the effort - and the horrible visage of Demogorgon fills his mind's eye. Gasping, he loses his grip on the boat and stumbles a little. He tries to calm himself, conjuring in his imagination a vision of Eilistraee that he once had in a dream.
Cyrus waits for an opportunity to strike.
Irdril calls forth a pebble that seeks one of the creatures deep into the water, surging past the waves and hitting home quite hard. The creatures surge forward to attack those who are in the water! Irdril unleashes a blast of force that strikes it hard but it keeps moving.
Eddrikk is bitten by one of the creatures (2 dam) but the other two fail to get their teeth through Kanzen's armor.
Looks like Galenus' knowledge of Gracklstugh is in line with what's he's previously revealed.
Kanzen's blood runs cold as he recognises the creatures. "Beware! Ixitxachitls! Their bite hurts, but their sting hurts more! And they're intelligent!"
Kanzen quits his attempts to shift the boat and lashes out at the nearest ixitxachitl with his daggers.
Snarling Eddrikk turns to face his attackers.
Eddrikk completely destroys the one attacking him and nearly gets a piece of the one by Galinndan.
Galenus casts enlarge on himself as he jumps into the water, ready to push next round.
Everyone hears a massive splash as a thousand-pound dwarfs hefts himself into the water. The boat nearly capsizes but thankfully he casts the spell on himself just as he's getting out.
Irdril fires magic at #3..
"Take this magic manta ray!"
Cyrus's quick hit and run tactics prove ineffective as he fails to deal a blow to the creatures.
Irdril's magic completely tears apart one of the creatures with blast amd stone! It's broken body starts slowly sinking into the dark waters.
Seeing the foe right next to him, Galinndan spins, grabbing his weapons and stabs.
Kanzen had already weakened the last remaining attacker and Galinndan finishes him off with twin blows. Its body also begins floating away, leaking scarlet.
Hemeth nods. "Took ya long enough. Let's get this piece o' flotsam movin' again. We're almost there."
Galinndan puts away his blades, grips the side of the boat and heaves as best he can.
Galenus heaves, pushing the boat as hard as he can out of the sandbar and back into the deeper waters.
The dwarves begin to get the craft moving but it's not quite off the sand bar!
Everyone in the boat! Galenus grunts as he gives one last push, and follows through giving them speed in the waters.
As soon as they get going on the waters, he'll push himself off the bottom and into the boat, releasing the spell before he lands on the craft.
Galinndan listens to Galenus and half-climbs, half-flops into the boat.
Kanzen gives the dwarves a hand and soon you're back in motion, all piled into the boat.
You enter a broad, watery expanse. In the distance, you can barely make out small pinpricks of light. Hemeth nods toward it while steering the craft "That be my city. The City of Blades."
It's been a long time since I've been to Gracklstugh. Well, never really been in the city proper itself, just the outskirts. How is the old City?
Galinndan raises his head.
"Anything we should know? Especially those of us who are not dwarves?"
Hemeth grunts. "Derro are problems. Same as always." He glares at Buppido but the derro's enthusiasm for coming to the city is completely unperturbed.
Your boat continues moving forward and the air grows hotter and full of the acrid smell of smoke. Your ears fill with the constant clanging of the citiy's forges as the hard, efficient stone architecture lit orange by fires comes into view.
Hemeth turns to the lot of you "Look now. You lot did me a good turn. So I'll warn ya of a few things. Once ya go into Gracklstugh, there's no guarantee the guards'll let ya out. If ya cause trouble, you'll be put to work as slaves. If ya look like weak targets, slaves. Anger the wrong person, slaves. Ya never know when guards are around 'cause" Hemeth turns invisible then speaks to you without appearing "We gray dwarves got this little trick." He snaps his thick fingers and reappears. He directs you to pull up to a pier where you can unload and enter the city without attracting too much attention. "I gotta go. Thanks for everythin' but I can't be associated with ya."
Galinndan nods.
"We appreciate the warning. Good luck."
He turns to the others.
"I will of course fight as needed. But until I can meditate properly, I will be less effective than I would be. I may need you to cover for me, in case the natives see me as easy prey. I will attempt to do the same for you all."
There's an inn around here somewhere that caters to outsiders. Can't remember the name of it though, and it's been a long time, so I don't know if they're still around. But maybe we can ask around for it.