The zombies are finally dispatched.
Mal cuts a zombie down, Garnstn steps in and finishes off the last one.
Combat over
A young female pops out of the water. An exotic green tint to her skin is quite evident. The green parts of her skin seem to be fighting with a rotting, wasting disease.
"You have defeated my captors!! I am free of them!!
She walks on feet unused to land. A turtle surfaces near her.
The elf turns to Garn, "That was too damn close..."
Mal is shocked by the woman appearing out of the water, so much so that he acts instead of speaking. He quickly bends down to retrieve the portion from Kat's hip flask and pour it into Dain's mouth. "I gave you Kat's potion, I hope you have something for her and Mahath. We got more company".
.....
.......
.........
Dain looks a little better
All core rangers can use clw wands.
Mal whispers, "Damn", he grabs the wand from Dain's pack and tries to heal him with it.
Wand CLW
When it is clear once again he will not get up, Mal uses it again.
Wand CLW
Dain groans and sits up! We're not dead? He hurriedly takes the wand and starts healing everyone
As Dain stands and heals everyone Mal collects his bow from the ground and turns to the newcomer from the water.
"Who and what are you?" he holds his weapon tip down not threatening but not sheathing it either.
Mahath rises slowly, taking in the changes to the room since he lost consciousness. Tremendous amounts of blood (some of it his own), fallen zombies and the new arrival. He looks to the woman for answers to Mal's questions.
The woman is quite upset.
"I am a water sprite. Who and what are you lander?"
She looks around.
"The leader is not here!!"
You were held captive by the zombies? Or their leader? Dain gestures to the others. We were trappe dhere by a man named Vanthus and are trying to escape. Do you know of any exits other than a tunnel to the east?
Dain pokes himself and Kath
Looking at the sprite, Garnstn asks bruskly,
"What does the leader look like? Where would he be?"
Mahath waits as Kat is healing, pressing his hand over a particularly bad gash (he's trying not to think of it as a human bite). Blood still weeps thickly from several places on the battered wizard.
Dain pokes Mahath
The water maiden says:
"We find the leader, get my magic garment, and I will show you the way out. He is an evil priest."
That sounds like a fair trade. Who else is wounded? I can still heal us.
Mal clasps the dwarf on the shoulder, "I am better now. Let us confront this leader, perhaps he knows of Vanthus. I think it is clear that he is indeed a villain and not merely a fop spending good coin chasing women and wine".
Garnstn nods and follows.
Dain gets his dagger out and stows his hammer and follows near the rear.
"Describe the garment, if you will. We want to make sure we recover it for you. Is it particularly vulnerable to anything?"
Mal sheathes his sword and takes up his bow still not sure about this creature form the depths as an ally he keeps an eye on her just in case.
The maid swims easily in waist deep water. You manage to push your way to the west.
The sloshing sound comes from the churning waters of a sea cave. Fueled by what must be powerful submerged currents. the water laps and splashes against the walls of the twisting natural cavern that leads to the west. A sandy slope descends from the door down to the edge of the subterranean tide. Dozens of purple and red sea urchins glisten in shallow divots along the ground and lower walls here,their spines glittering with water.
You travel to a chamber with four more zombies, but your guide easily leads you past them to the north. Swimming is difficult at times, but the sea turtle quickly uses his big bulk to help stabilize anyone who has fallen. At times he quickly puts you back on your feet with a push of his head.
You arrive at barred door, and, despite the difficulty in getting leverage, once again the turtle helps you force the door to the chamber. Inside you find a note along with a dead body. The dead body has masterwork studded leather and a ring worth 100gp on its finger.
Opening the door to the west of this chamber reveals a room with three chests and the pirate leader.
Mal
Garnst
Mahath
Dain
Kat
Enemies
Tina and Turtle
Garnstn seems to have the jump on the pirate zombies.
Order
Garnstn
Our thanks Mr.Turtle. Now, let us face these nasty foes!
Garnstn swings at the zombie next to him.
Keep them bottled up!
Garnstn swings around the corner rather than enter the room. His swing clips the hard corner of the wall as he tries to hit the flatfooted zombie. The blow is deflected enough to miss.
The pirate leader grabs what appears to be a dainty, white lace garment from his pack. "Tina and her turtle must have led you here. Stand down, or I rip this into pieces!!"
Tina the water maid seems agitated. "You are turning me into a zombie. So I may have little to lose."
The pirate leader laughs: "Well, I won't be fighting you and your turtle along with these other varmints then. You'll not be taking my treasure."
A single zombie steps into the doorway and prepares to grab Garnstn. He opens up his mouth to expose the huge teeth you are used to seeing.
Dain tells you the pirate leader is wearing a holy symbol of Olidammara, but the holy symbol is upside down.
Olidammara is one of the more eccentric gods of Oerth. The Laughing Rogue is often involved in good-natured schemes involving the other gods (less good-natured for the more evil deities), with repercussions that can make life difficult for his faithful. He has few proper priests, but is held in high regard in almost all non-evil regions of the Flanaess.
Dain also sees through the illusion on the pirate leader. He tells you he is a huecuva, resistant all weapons except those silvered or magical.
Mahath deduces that Tina is a Nereid, a powerful sea fey. He read about her in an arcane tome. A nereid’s shawl contains a portion of her life force, and if it is destroyed, she will most likely die. A nereid would normally have great powers of seduction, but the zombie disease that has marred her beauty has reduced her power somewhat. Males (and some females) that gaze on a nereid typically come under their thrall.
Everyone can act now - bad guys seem to be readied, waiting for your actions
Last time we tried entering a room with zombies, we almost all died. Give us the shawl and note and ya can stay down here with your trinkets.
If hostilies commence, Dain will touch Kat with Touch of Good to give her +1 to attacks and saves for 1 round
"Not gonna happen. You show me and my entourage back to town, let me alone, and I'll send the frilly dress to you after I get settled in day or two. You crazy, I keep the water lady and her turtle from hurting me by keeping this thing."
You have found the note in the last room (4) and find yourselves on the threshold of the last room (5).
Tina the water spirit tells you: "In case I die, you can escape through the northern chambers. I will have Ike lead you back."
As the drama unfolds, you take stock of the room with the dead pirate Penkus.
The smell in this chamber is horrific, a cloying stink of rotten meat rising from the bloated, seeping body slumped in the middle of the floor. The corpse's dark, almost black flesh bulges against its armor,
ready to burst at the slightest touch. An intricate tattoo of a dragon clutching a flower is barely visible on his shoulder against the diseased flesh, and clutched in one hand was the crumpled scroll you discovered.
Tina quickly describes the way out as she knows it. "You will have to wait four hours for low tide to make it out without breathing water. A large pool of water sloshes in the western portion of the caves- this pool is twelve feet deep at its deepest point during high tide. A five-foot-wide tunnel leads north at the base of this pool; this submerged tunnel travels on a twisting course to the northwest for 70 feet before emerging from the sea bed in the harbor between Parrot Island and the gate that separates Shadowshore from the Cudgel district; from here, it's only a 20 foot swim to the surface and then a 50 foot swim to shore."
Dain looks at his comrades. What do you think?
Mahath regards the undead creature maliciously and says "You can flee. If you drop the garment, you know we'll stop for it. If you try to destroy it, we'll be on you before you can finish the job, and my magic can restore it. We won't let you take it from here only to enslave her. So what will it be: drop it and flee, knowing we will let you go, or try and destroy it and know we will destroy you."
Garnstn just stands there, axe in hand, waiting to see if things are going to get bloody. Or ichory as they case may be.
Mal speaks to the undead thing, "You give us the white lace garment and we will bring Vanthus back here to you! How does that sound for a fair bargain?"
"I care not for this Vanthus."
"And I can't tell if any of you speak any truth."
The pirate rips the garment almost all the way through.
The water maid shrieks and turns pale.
"If you don't agree, she will die. And, only I can bring her back from the dead."
Garnstn grumbles, "F@ck it. Let's just get bloody." He doesn't take any direct action though.
Dain gives his blessing as said.