If Luther has already cast his spell, he invokes his protection (+2 ac to all for 3 rounds), if not, he makes Dez strong.
Watching the acid burn into Dezco’s armour, the blue-skinned figure floats in the water at the eastern end of the corridor – whilst, in the water near the steps, a long sleek shape occasionally moves near the surface…
Dru intones the word that will send two magic missiles streaming towards the blue-skinned figure.
Spells Remaining: 5
Drusellia's missile fizzes along the corridor before unerringly striking the small figure watching you from so far away....
Looking down at his armor, then at the water, Conner grimaces in distaste.
"Maybe we should reconsider. And look for a way down that isn't full of wet stuff that I won't drink and can't breath."
"Or maybe come back more prepared to deal with said wet stuff. Rush isn't my style."
Placing a bolt onto his crossbow, Symon takes a shot at the unknown creature swimming near them.
Attack-ranged:
Damage:
Symon's bolt fizzes ineffectually into the water...
"We can break off if they don't come after us."
Leaving the water-logged corridor behind, the group trudges back up the stairs towards the inevitable stench of the Troglodyte’s lair – ringing the chain that hangs in the corridor shortly before the top of the stairs - nothing happens for a minute or two and then, with a sharp fizzing sound, the rock that prevent access further up the stairs blinks out of existence. A sibilant voice calls out, ”Come… come…”
Climbing the last remaining stairs, your troglodyte greets you, ”You have defeated the men who were alive then dead then alive already?” Your passage through the lair is, as per your previous visit, filled with the troglodyte extolling the virtues and power of Skraa-orm. At the stairs leading up to the Splinter’s hideout, your guide wishes you well and then resumes it’s sentry duties in front of the closed doors.
We rest and level in splinter's hideout.
Once again, during the rest period, Dru spends her time alone. If approached, she is polite, but curt in her desire to be by herself.
The night spent in the Splinter’s hideout is quiet and restful… The established watch hears nothing untoward throughout the time spent in the abandoned rooms and, as folks take their breakfast, they feel genuinely invigorated.
Trekking back down from the Splinter's hideout, you find yourself at the entrance to the troglodyte's lair and are greeted by a different representative of the 'Children of Thagh'. An older troglodyte who introduces himself as Kargh, welcomes you to Godhome, "Slaagh told me that folk of 'Up Above' would seek passage through... He rests now... You have your offering to the God on the Box... Yes?"
Learning from last time, Luther makes sue everyone is together and braced as a metalless Dru drops the items one by one from the group.
First, Luther thanks their hosts:
"We come again to offer. Thank you."
Once in the water, Luther casts a spell that makes gills appear on everyone. Everyone has 48 minutes of water breathing.
The offering of scrap metal (items of kitchenware, hand tools and a pair of poorly fashioned swords) is 'accepted' by the God in the Box and you are duly shown to the stairs that lead downwards...
...back to the steps that lead into the water - where the crabs still skitter around your feet.
Luther holds his magic until drowning becomes a more real danger.
Symon scans the water once again, looking for the creature he say last time they were here. He keeps his crossbow at the ready, knowing that he and his comrades are soon going into battle.
Perception:
The flooded corridor seems quiet, the occasional clacking of the crabs being the only sound that punctuates the silence, and the only movement is the gentle lapping of small waves against the steps.
Luther waits on having everyone breathe like fish, and decides to give Dezco the barkskin to protect him (40 minutes).
"We want to secure a dry place to rest rather than have to scavenge for metal every time we return. I can give us water breathing for 48 minutes each twice, so we have to stick together. We will all be breathing air, or all breathing water. I figured drowning is a real threat we want to avoid."
Taking some practice swings under the water with his morningstar, Luther is not happy with the results. He switches to a dagger.
"Stabbing weapons work the best I found."
Underwater Combat
Land-based creatures can have considerable difficulty when fighting in water. Water affects a creature's attack rolls, damage, and movement. In some cases a creature's opponents might get a bonus on attacks. The effects are summarized on Table: Combat Adjustments Underwater. They apply whenever a character is swimming, walking in chest-deep water, or walking along the bottom of a body of water.
Table: Combat Adjustments Underwater
Synopsis = Piercing weapons work best - others at -2 to hit and half damage
1 Creatures flailing about in the water (usually because they failed their Swim checks) have a hard time fighting effectively. An off-balance creature loses its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class, and opponents gain a +2 bonus on attacks against it.
2 A creature without freedom of movement effects or a swim speed makes grapple checks underwater at a –2 penalty, but deals damage normally when grappling.
3 A successful Swim check lets a creature move one-quarter its speed as a move action or one-half its speed as a full-round action.
4 Creatures have firm footing when walking along the bottom, braced against a ship's hull, or the like. A creature can only walk along the bottom if it wears or carries enough gear to weigh itself down: at least 16 pounds for Medium creatures, twice that for each size category larger than Medium, and half that for each size category smaller than Medium.
Ranged Attacks Underwater: Thrown weapons are ineffective underwater, even when launched from land. Attacks with other ranged weapons take a –2 penalty on attack rolls for every 5 feet of water they pass through, in addition to the normal penalties for range.
Attacks from Land: Characters swimming, floating, or treading water on the surface, or wading in water at least chest deep, have improved cover (+8 bonus to AC, +4 bonus on Reflex saves) from opponents on land. Land-bound opponents who have freedom of movement effects ignore this cover when making melee attacks against targets in the water. A completely submerged creature has total cover against opponents on land unless those opponents have freedom of movement effects. Magical effects are unaffected except for those that require attack rolls (which are treated like any other effects) and fire effects.
Fire: Nonmagical fire (including alchemist's fire) does not burn underwater. Spells or spell-like effects with the fire descriptor are ineffective underwater unless the caster makes a caster level check (DC 20 + spell level). If the check succeeds, the spell creates a bubble of steam instead of its usual fiery effect, but otherwise the spell works as described. A supernatural fire effect is ineffective underwater unless its description states otherwise. The surface of a body of water blocks line of effect for any fire spell. If the caster has made the caster level check to make the fire spell usable underwater, the surface still blocks the spell's line of effect.
Spellcasting Underwater: Casting spells while submerged can be difficult for those who cannot breathe underwater. A creature that cannot breathe water must make a concentration check (DC 15 + spell level) to cast a spell underwater (this is in addition to the caster level check to successfully cast a fire spell underwater). Creatures that can breathe water are unaffected and can cast spells normally. Some spells might function differently underwater, subject to GM discretion.
Proceeding down the steps into the surprisingly cold water, the stairs level out with the water near to waist height…
Arriving at the first hallway to the south, you peer into a small room - the silty water in this flooded room reeks of shellfish. Bones and other refuse are piled high in the south-western corner of the room - hundreds of the toad-sized crabs skitter over the pile... and then, seeing the lights and activity from the corridor, they pour into the water and, as a boiling swarm, start to flow into the corridor.
The Crab Swarm surges over Dezco, claws nipping… scratching… piercing…
Seeing the spider-like creatures swarm poor Dezco, Symon gives a yell and tries to stab the closest crabs.
Attack-melee:
Damage:
Luther moves around if needed to get a shot, missing badly with his morningstar.
Dru begins to intone the words to a sleep spell. She maneuvers to get a clear view of the back of the swarm and centers the spell such that it will encompass the crabs, but not her companions.
Neither Luther nor Symon's weapons seem to have much of an effect upon the gathering swarm...no sooner does one crab die than another two take it's place...
Drusellia's soporific intonations also have a negligible effect...the swarm seems to slow for a second before surging forwards with renewed vigour...
Well can we rest on the stairs, so as not to have to pay the "iron toll" to the trogs?
Fleeing from the crab swarm, the party of adventurers pick a spot about fifty feet up the staircase and make camp... Taking the opportunity to sharpen weapons, discuss tactics and rest - everyone rests a while...
Returning back to the familiar patch of dry land at the foot of the steps, a few lone crabs remain...
Mobicon, Mobile, AL, actually, but I'm running PFS scenarios for almost the entirety of the convention.
Dru knows the following spells:
2nd scorching ray
1st expeditious excavation, mage armor, magic missile, sleep
0 daze, detect magic, haunted fey aspect, ray of frost, read magic, sotto voce
As a sorcerer, she doesn't need to prepare them, but she is limited to what you see there.
With Conner filling up on burning hands to deal with all the little crabs (lets say all his level one slots but one for shocking grasp), the group heads back to face the crabs.
Cautiously approaching the room that the swarm previously crawled out from, Conner waves a lit torch to attract the scavenging mass… With a sudden rise in noise, the swarm once more pour out of the room to find prey…
Retreating to the steps, Conner draw upon his arcane powers and gouts of flame pour from his fingertips…
With the swarm nearly fully subsided but threatening to overwhelm him at the last, Conner flings his flask of acid into the mass
Conner’s last gasp attack is just enough to stop the swarm… looking around him, hundreds – maybe thousands of blackened crustacean corpses lie on the floor… it is then that he starts to realise that he too has been quite badly injured in the fight…
Towards the voice we heard last time.
Symon moves down the tunnel where the crabs came from, and using his dark vision, scans the area.
Moving up to the hallway where the Aquan voice originated from, Symon looks around the corner and sees a much larger room. The brackish water in the room is clear and, in comparison to the previous room, smells fresh and clean... There is a hallway leading to the east from this room. Even from the entrance, you can feel a gentle current pulling to the south - where, beyond a wall of rubble, a tumbling waterfall can be heard.
perception:
Symon gets the other's attention and points to the area of waves as he slowly brings his crossbow up to aim at the area.
Dru follows his gaze, but sees nothing.
Luther nods and sees the area Simon is pointing too.
He points to Dezco and himself, and follows the dwarf to investigate.
As Dezco boldly enters the room (with his companions bravely leading from the rear), the standing wave grows in height - quickly adopting a shape that mirrors Dezco's form. It stands erect for a second and then crashes down as breaking surf - surging towards the dwarf.
As Dezco moves into the room, the building wave changes direction and, taking it's vaguely humanoid form, crashes against the dwarf...drenching the adventurer but causing him no lasting damage.
Dru fires two magic missles at the elemental.