Krom sighs, and starts speaking in Elven.
"My views on romance and physical pleasure has always been more human than elven, know what I mean? To be blunt, I want some action, and it's hard to come by on this ship. The two most attractive women here have no interest in me, and the men..." he shudders. "Well, I'm not that desperate."
"As for Pierce...I admire a person with guts, and attempting to Charm the meanest orc ever to attain Free Captainship is quite gutsy. Jrahk may have been stupid and belligerent, but all the same, Pierce seemed drawn to him, either for his magnetic personality or his big muscles. So maybe he'd go for someone like me, who is a little less bulky, but more charismatic AND able to write his own name!"
He shrugs. "And if such a relationship would benefit the crew as a whole, then I'd say I deserve a shot."
Krom sighs, and starts speaking in Elven.
"My views on romance and physical pleasure has always been more human than elven, know what I mean? To be blunt, I want some action, and it's hard to come by on this ship. The two most attractive women here have no interest in me, and the men..." he shudders. "Well, I'm not that desperate."
Continuing in Elven, Ixrul says, "I would advise against mixing business and pleasure, though your point about him being a possible ally is a fair one. I will look into it. Next time we are in port, consider a brothel."
Krom scoffs. "A brothel?! Sure, right. And why would you want a home-cooked meal prepared especially for you, when you could just go to a cheap restaurant instead? It's all just food, right?"
"See, this is what I'm talking about. Elves seem to think of sex and "true" love as being completely different things. I don't agree with that. I can't have a good time with a complete stranger who only cares about my coin. I need to have that...spark, y'know? And yes, physical attraction is a part of that, but it doesn't do the job on its own!"
He calms down and clears his throat, looking a little embarrassed.
"Anyway, thank you for considering my suggestion...sir."
Ixrul raises an eyebrow. "Very well."
Meanwhile, Gurram, blissfully unaware of her master's foolishness, navigates through the coral and examines the area within. If she finds anything of interest, she will telepathically prompt Krom to activate his Bond Senses.
Through the telepathic link, Krom hears a roar of incoherent anger, followed by a stream of inane rambling. A few seconds afte rthis starts, he hears a plea.
<Krom! Help! There's something wrong with OALKIAOYFUKAFUKHAUFA>
<Gurram? What's going on down there?!>
Krom quickly starts using Bond Senses.
Gurram is in a room, alone, but is alternately babbling or beating himself over the head while trying to explore.
"Damn...something's messing with her mind."
<Get out of there!>
Krom pays attention to her mental state once she exits the area, checking whether she stays Confused.
Gurram begins the very slow process of leaving the temple. She remains confused all the way. After a solid 15 minutes she finally makes it back to he surface, and tries to come aboard the ship.
Daliya helped the creature climb back on board. It was...concerning, that whatever was underwater melted the creatures brains to this point.
"No, wait! Sorry, girl, but you might accidentally hurt someone up here. Just stay in the water for now."
Krom looks genuinely concerned.
"Can anyone figure out what's wrong with her?"
Gremory doesn't try to pull Gurram onto the deck. She's more interested in inspecting her new acquisition.
So, a step worse than a suicide mission I'd say. Would it wear off if you sent her back to the planes? After we identify it anyway.
She casts detect magic and concentrates to try to figure out the spell, if any, that affects the Eidolon.
Ixrul applies his rather more impressive mind to the problem at hand.
The Eidolon seems to have been afflicted by some form of Insanity.
"So it won't wear off on its own. Sandra, can you help her?"
"From what I know of the condition, no. It is in the next circle of spells, and Besmara has not yet granted me the power."
While all this is going on, Gurram has alternately tried to climb the side of the boat in a crazed frenzy, and dropped back down, thankful she's not quite fast enough to scale the boat and attack her allies.
It appears you may need to dismiss her for the while. She's too much of a threat to the crew in this state. Hmm... This will put a damper on our submersive plundering.
"I see..."
Krom thinks to himself for a few seconds.
"Alright then. Don't worry, Gurram, I know what to do."
He snaps his fingers, and Gurram vanishes.
"Sandra, I know a spell called Summon Eidolon, which will bring Gurram to this world as a normal summoned creature. That'll make her vulnerable to things like Dispel Magic and Protection spells."
"So once we have a Heal scroll ready, you can cast Protection from Chaos on yourself and me. Everyone else will stand back while I cast the summon spell. She'll try to attack the two closest people - you and me - but won't be able to lay a claw on us, so you'll be safe while you heal her. And if something goes wrong, we can have Ixrul ready to hit her with a Dispel."
"More to the point, is there anyways to prevent anyone else from going crazy if we want the treasure? I mean I don't think anyone else wants another nutcase on the ship, right?"
Daliya watched the crazed monster. "Ace is correct. No treasure is worth living like this." It certainly explained the sharks, although it seemed likely that sharks were difficult to tell if they were insane.
That sounds smart. Good thinking Krom. She eyes the summoner for a moment during her congratulations.
But, if it's all the same to you, She levels her new musket to the sea I'm going to keep my own dispel method ready, as a back-up option. Eidolons are Native Outsiders correct? Far too many sorts of those.
"If there were no other threats, I can animate some undead. They are impervious to such magic."
"Also, he's not guaranteed to be violent when he arrives. I believe such magic makes you violent roughly, ah, a half of the time? And half of that violence will tend to be self-directed."
"She" captain. Makes me hope I'm still recognizable as a woman. Oh yes. What have those harpies been doing? Anything especially useful? If not, that could change.
Krom grins wryly when Gremory brandishes her musket.
"I guess I can't stop you from trying that. Though in her crazed state, if she sees you as a threat, she'll pounce without a moment of hesitation."
"I hope you can fire that musket quickly."
"Oh, and Sandra, I'm sure you thought of this, but don't cast your Heal until Gurram seems non-hostile. That way she won't try to avoid your touch or resist the spell."
Gremory merely smiles after Kroms statement. I'm the fastest shot on the inner sea.
I can keep it out of sight. Behind the mast, perhaps. It's the back-up option, I don't expect we'll need it.
"I hope not. It would make things awkward between the two of you."
"Now that I think about it, a Communal protection spell would probably be better, just as an extra precaution. It could be cast on up to ten of us for one minute each, and everyone else can head belowdecks."
Krom uses the group fund to buy a scroll of Heal . With his own money, he buys a Cracked Pale Green Prism Ioun Stone .
You (presumably) summon back Gurram after casting your spells. She starts off very hostile.
It begis flailing at Krom, but can't touch him, leaving Sandra free to ready to cast the Heal once Gurram calms down.
Which she does immediately, and is Healed.
"That went better than expected!"
Krom smiles and rubs the back of Gurram's neck.
"Welcome back. I got a present for you!"
He hands her the ioun stone he just bought. Minutes later, she disappears as the summon spell wears off, and Krom does his actual summoning ritual.
"So, back to business. How do we get down there without going insane?"
"Well, since Gurram is back to normal now, can you ask her and see if she remembers what happened before she went nuts?"
Gurram relays that there was a flash of light when she passed through a doorway Then she went nuts.
Almost idly the gunfighter makes a suggestion Perhaps Bikendi could enlighten us as to what exactly is guarding this "reward." And why he decided not to mention it. This is assuming we can find him again.