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Lubella sensed that there was a chance to turn the situation around. As far as she could tell, Zenger hadn't shared any damaging information yet. She said to him,
"I can tell that you are keen to advance in our organization, but that perhaps you would benefit from some guidance on how best to do that. I would be happy to meet with you once a week, to develop a plan for your growing into a leadership role. It won't happen overnight, but if you're willing to work at it, you could have a promising future."
"That is a good idea." Talvek allows himself a small internal sigh of relief - he had come to the meeting fully prepared to have to kill Zenger. "I can help with that, teach you the basics of counter-intelligence and how you can become an even greater asset to the movement."
”Well, that sounds great . Will I work alone or will the whole team go? I am fine with either! Let’s do it. “
Lubella replied, "Working with others is definitely important to advance in the organization; I can't say yet how everything is going to work. Let's meet tomorrow morning after breakfast and get started on the details."
After the interview was completed, she said to her comrades, "It sounds like Hetamon has some parts ready for the pumping system, and is ready to give us instructions on how to get it working. Lets go and talk to him."
***
Hetamon hands you all the remaining parts.
I have repaired what I could. It should suffice. Once you are back down, you put this square piece back, insert the bellows, reconnect the tubes in sequence from small to large, and then speak this incantation to start it up.
He pauses.
Then what happens, if anything, after that, I cannot say. But be prepared.
He shakes his head and smiles.
But who am I to tell you to be careful after all you have been through. May the blessing of Milani be upon you and your mission.
He blesses you and your mission as you head back to the Lucky Bones.
Lubella wrote down Hetamon's instructions and thanked him for the parts, I really appreciate all the work that you've done on this."
She carefully packed everything up and began the walk back to the base. On the way she spoke to her friends, "Shall we head down tomorrow and see if we can get everything working? The sooner we can drain the tunnels, the better."
She kept an eye out to make sure they weren't being followed or observed as the entered the secret way into the basement.
Sidius nods, "Agreed. If nothing else, we'll be able to spend more than a quarter-hour exploring."
You make your preparations and gather to dive to fit the final pieces into place
Octavio and the others of his order join him
”Good luck on this mission. Indeed if you are successful this will provide a much more defensible base of operations. Just call if you need help. “
The team departs for the depths once more and inserts the last pieces into place on the magical 'pump'. With the incantation provided by Hetamon, the strange apperatus hums, then glows then vibrates, with a strained POP! before going silent.
Just as you assume something went afoul, it sputters and hums before a loud suction sound is heard within. The sound is repeated a few seconds later and then faster and faster. It takes life of its own and you can hear the rush of waters in the tubes as the pump starts moving huge quantities of the river out the pipes...somewhere.
After several moments, the ceiling forms bubbles and then you can see the waterline slowly inching down the walls.
"Praise Sarenrae, it worked!", Lubella declared excitedly. "We should go ad find out exactly where the water is going. It could cause flooding somewhere."
Talvek had been standing (floating?) guard as Lubella and the other magically-savvy people worked to repair the pump system, and as the water begins to drain he scramble to find something to hold on to. The last thing he'd want is to be swept out together with the water and whatever else is in here. But when Lubella calls out about investigating the direction of the drainage, he reluctantly lets go of his safe perch and begins to swim with the current.
The pump drains quickly but there is a ton of water. It will not all drain before your air runs low. But enough drains so that you can find pockets to breath while it drains.
Lubella assessed the situation and confered with the others, "I'd prefer to wait until the water has drained before clearing out new areas. I especially don't want to fight those shell constructs underwater. I propose that we leave and come back tomorrow."
Sidius nods, "If there was somewhere else worth going, I'd object, but I think Lubella's right."
.
Lubella headed back to the surface, to rest and retrurn the following morning saying, "I'd like to have a full compliment of spells for the next step. My suggestion is to clear out the area with the shell constructs, but I'm open to ideas."
Sidius nods, "Is there something I should try to prepare -- constructs resist magic, but ... often there's something that works."
"Those constructs were very nasty, perhaps some summons could help," suggests Talvek. "Or things that make the environment more difficult for them?"
Your party looks down the well to see only a damp muddy floor where the river waters once flowed. The hum of the magical pump can be heard in the distance, less strained than when if first started.
Lubella agreed with Talvek, "Those constructs hit pretty hard; I'm all for giving them more targets that aren't us to strike at."
In the morning Lubella rose in time for dawn prayers as usual. As breakfast she asked everyone, "Ready to explore the drained tunnels? Perhaps we should find out what those constructs are guarding."
When the group was preparing for their expedition, she cast a couple of spells to bolster her and Talvek's resolve.
Sidius nods, "Summons, I can manage. Better still, I won't need to worry about things that can swim... I could try to get a web to hold them - maybe stop them from flanking us."
"Definitely better now though, that we can actually move and breathe properly."
Your group moves to the side hallway just past the secret door to the pump room. The pumps can be heard through the walls. Nothing is heard ahead from the room with the shell creatures except for drips.
Lubella cast a light spell on her scimitar so she cold see where she was going, and Message on the party. She whispered, "Jackdaw, can you sneak forward and have a look? It might be better if I don't spoil your stealth with my light."
"Of course."
Downing an extract of invisibility for good measure, Talvek advances cautiously.
Talvek disappears and advances stealthily into the edge of the room
You see the two piles of shells which looked innocent enough, but you know these are likely the creatures you first spotted underwater about a week ago when they attacked you.
Sidius watches Talvek creep into the room, readying himself to cast a spell.
A bit of time passes. The rest of you cannot see Talvek. But still have the message active (assuming)
Lubella whispered, "Jackdaw, what can you see? Are the constructs sill active?"
Talvek whispers back They are still here." The tiefling waits for the others to arrive before acting, wanting to maintain the advantage of invisibility, but unwilling to engage the constructs by himself.
Lubella whispered back, "I'll cast a spell and move up; I'll do my best not to alert them."
She used her wand to give herself some magical armor, and the incanted a spell to give her illusory copied of herself, and another to improve her agility. She hid her scimtar under her cloak, allowing only the minimum to spill out so she could have some idea of where she was stepping. Then she crept forward, trying not to detray her presence.
Sidius whispers, "I can summon an archon to start the fight, if people are ready -- I imagine the constructs won't react until anything enters the room."
"I'm ready," Lubella whispered. "They will notice my light as soon as I enter the room."
And so it begins…
Sidius begins his summons as Lubella buffs herself with images.
As soon as the archon appears, it fires off a pair of rays at the pile of shells.
One of the rays manages to just penetrate the shell enough to startle the creatures.
With a gurgle and a hiss, the two piles of shells begin to spin and swirl and form into creatures...
=== Round 1 ===
24-Arcos(),Sidius(),Archon(), Talvek(), Lubella( 1+6images)
22-Shells (-1 green), ( blue)
Sidius begins to cast another summoning spell, while the Archon fires another pair of beams at the creatures.
for
for
Lubella took a deep breath and said to herself, "Here we go again." She muttered an arcane word to empower her blade, then advanced to strike at the nearest construct.
The archon fires a pair of rays but one hits the wall wildly. The other burns a bit of shell.
Lubella tries her blade and is not used to fighting without the resistance of water slowing her. She manages to land the blow but the hard shells are difficult to cut. A few chips fly off.
24-Arcos(), Talvek () “
Sidius(summoning),Archon(), Lubella( 1+6images)
22-Shells (-1 green), ( -5 blue)
Talvek moves to flank Lubella's target, revealing his presence as he attacks.
Talvek uses the flat side of his blade to break the shells rather than slash them, dealing consistent damage.