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Luurg pulls Leafy from the fresh corpse of another skum. He looks around and nods as the rest of the creatures are put down by the groups prowess. "Well dare, dat real EZ. Where dey come from? Down dat cave dare?" He points into the cavern before heading down to the surf to wash the blood from himself and Leafy.
"Any buddy else needs?" He offers up healing.
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"Trust me Princess," Wadi rolls his eyes at the grippli's theatrics, "I think there are plenty more skum where they came from!"
Turning his attention to the other villagers he adds earnestly, "Once we have dealt with your 'Master' then it will be a simple manner to return you all to Blackcove...once you help us."
With the skum defeated the freed villagers now have absolutely no reason to doubt that your intentions are pure. As many of them shakily sink down upon the sands of the cove to rest, they offer a veritable font of information.
"Aye, we'll do what we can, tell ya everything we know," one of the men pipes up. "Gerlach...he's leading the skum but he...he ain't himself, it ain't his fault, not all of it! He's got himself a secret place, deep under the island, but he ain't the Master."
"No..." a young woman agrees, shivering. "A god slept under this island for generations, a god of the old Azlanti that used to live and work here. Gerlach came here...I think he wanted to find a way to halt the change some of us go through. He found the god's husk deep below and somehow revived him, hoping he would help in his search. Gerlach should never have woke him..."
She hesitates and then finally whispers a name.
A name you've encountered hints of before, though at the time you had no way of knowing its significance.
"Mohl’omog."
"Actually, why don't you let us worry about getting the others safely home?"
The familiar, feminine voice is one you hadn't expected to hear again so soon; you turn towards the surf to see Sara Vanderholt and Lira Saruven emerging from the waves. Sara appears the same as the last time that you saw her but you catch the briefest glimpse of wet, rubbery skin and an elongated nose as the priestess resumes her usual form.
"I knew you could do it, I knew it!" Sara exclaims, rushing from the surf to embrace each of you. "I made it back to Blackcove and I told the ones who were left of everything that had happened and how you saved me," she explains, the words spilling out of her like water from a spout.
"Indeed," Lira nods, offering a quick, tight smile as she takes in the sight of all of you and of her freed kith and kin. "After Sara told us what had happened we knew that you might soon need what help we could muster, but you saw - most of the ones left are old, sick, children. They can't take to the water as Sara and I can. So we left Gervus and Nick and his men to keep watch while we returned here as quickly as we could swim."
The priestess looks around and blinks her eyes rapidly.
"And I'm so glad that we did. Many of the faces here are ones that I feared I would never see again. Thank you, again, for risking life and limb for their safe return," she murmurs, bowing deeply. "We heard bits of your conversation when we emerged from the waves; you seek something in the depths below this place?"
"Th-they seek the god that Gerlach woke up, Lira," one of the villagers pipes up. "He's trapped under the island and I think we were brought here to try digging him out," he adds, answering Luurg's question as he gestures towards the partially-dug cave that extends into the side of the cliff.
The other rescued villagers nod, offering murmurs of agreement as both Lira and Sara's expression shift from shock to a sort of grim understanding. "Much of this is beginning to fall into place," Lira replies with a worried shake of her head. "I hate to ask you to risk yourselves even further for our sake but...whoever or whatever this 'god' is, we can't just let it lie. What if he sends more of those beasts for us?"
"Please...don't worry about us; we can start ferrying everyone else back to Blackcove from here! But you have to venture below and destroy this god if you can, or all our lives will be forfeit," Sara begs. "The skum will come for us again and we can't leave Blackcove, we don't have anywhere else to go!"
Vegpig, having been keeping his distance from the front lines and from the rescued villagers, coughs and thumps his spear on the ground.
"Um...this god thing sounds like bad news. Maybe he'd leave vegpigs alone after done with tall-legs? Or maybe not. I don't want to find out," the little vegepygmy remarks. He shuffles his feet awkwardly and then adds, "I could get rest of my tribe to watch. Stand guard over tall-legs-sorta-fish-people until they can go home. Probably."
"If you want?"
He looks at all of you expectantly.
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Adyr is relieved that he wont have to worry about getting all of these people home.
"All things considered... and despite its wonders... I am done with this island. I am sure the Pathfinder Society will want to come out and make a detailed examination of all these ruins. But I for one will that to the sages and alchemists."
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"Um, hello? Guys? Are we like, seriously suggesting taking on a god? Like, do we really think we are sooOooOoo important that we can kill a sea god on our own?" Tiffany oozes swaths of sarcasm, and after a pregnant pause, she only adds, "Hah! Yeah, I thought so too. Let's do it!"
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Luurg stands up as he sees the creatures coming from the water, he lowers Leafy quickly though once he puts things together "Oh hey dare purdy Ladies, gud you come back so fast." He smiles and nods at the both of them.
He spins around as Vegpig pops up now too "Oh hai dare mini tree guy! You been spyin' on us, so sniggy!" He laughs some more and resumes his seat on the rock as the discussions move ahead. "Mebe dis 'god' thing not real big god, just baby god.. er mebe we not gutta keel 'im just rebury 'im sum?" He shrugs his shoulders.
"Luurg ting we gutta do sumting 'bout it. He not real nice, not gud. Ok? Ok." Its apparently Luurg has made up his mind and is ready to go if and when the others are.
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"Yes, it's good to see you again, Sara Vanderholt and Lira Saruven." McKieg greets them with genuine warmth.
He nods in agreement. "This godlike 'master' has piqued my curiosity. Perhaps we can learn more about ancient Azlant."
He thanks the vegepygmy for his offer to help. "I'm sure you and your people can keep the villagers safe, while we delve below."
The warpriest considers his remaining resources and asks the team again, "Shall we rest first?"
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Adyr is impressed with Sheela's acknowledgement of the Laws of Man... maybe she is seeing the light of reason.
"Yes... killing a false god is something you don't need to ask twice about... knowing that all any of the gods are are simply powerful magical creatures we should be as prepared as possible for this undertaking."
Now having a little more time and a clearer head to conduct his examinations McKieg is able to conclude several things that eluded you previously.
The first is that it seems likely that the source of the magical energies are lingering after-effects from whatever experiments the Azlanti conducted here long ago; given the presence of the orbital current above your heads this isn't particularly surprising.
The second is that these energies will affect you (and other humanoids) for as long as you remain on the island. McKieg is able to deduce that it only affects humanoids due to the fact that none of the other creatures you've encountered on the island, including Vegpig and his kind, seem to be suffering any mutations. The rate at which the energies warp a creature seems to vary with the individual, though the dwarf suspects that those of a stronger constitution would be able to resist the effects for a longer period of time.
Third, and most chilling, is that there doesn't seem to be any conventional way to reverse the effects of this warping. Spells such as Remove Curse, Remove Disease, or Dispel Magic will have no effect on the affliction and provide no protection from the constant barrage of magical energies. Cure and Restoration spells will also have no effect. Only Greater Restoration, Heal, and Miracle would be of sufficient power to remove the taint. Of course it also sounds as though Gerlach may have been working on a way to try and reverse this sort of change, but the question of whether he was successful or not is unknown.
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McKieg informs the team about the effects of continued exposure to the mutating magical effects at work on them on the island.
"Our best hope to help these people lies in finding Gerlach, and, if he's found a way to reverse the transformation, to make it happen."
"If you want to press on now, then let's go. I'll contribute what I can for as long as I can."
Though it seems that all of you have largely resisted the island's malign influence up to now, there's the very real fear that further delay will only make things worse. But to counter that, how wise is it to head down below without full use of your resources? The group is very much caught between a rock and a hard place but after a lot of back-and-forth discussion the decision is (perhaps grudgingly on the part of a few of you) to rest for one more night and then make a fresh start of it in the morning, no matter what.
The rest of the afternoon and early evening is spent watching over the Blackcove villagers as Sara and Lira work to evacuate them off of the island and back to Blackcove. No more skum come to bother you and you wonder if perhaps you've killed all of them that were stationed on the island...or if they now lie in wait for you elsewhere.
"Mohl'omog...he probably knows that you're here, now. Gerlach too," the villagers warn. "Be careful when you go below."
By the time the sun is beginning to set across the seas the last of the villagers have been escorted home and both Sara and Lira bid you farewell; neither wanting to linger any longer than is necessary for reasons that are as obvious as they are understandable. Vegpig leads you back to his tribe's 'home' and you spend an uneasy but otherwise uneventful night there. The next morning dawns cold and dreary, with a light rain drizzle coming down. While Vegpig does agree to accompany you back to the sealed door you found in the empty well, he too understandably wishes to go no further, though he'll keep watch for you for as long as he can.
And so you set out, making whatever preparations you feel might be necessary now or perhaps waiting until you reach the sealed door to do so...
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You all make your way back to the building with the graceful, crumbling archways that open into a large bathing room. Two pools stand in the center of the room, full of stagnant water. On the far side of the room stand two additional archways that lead deeper into the building. Moving on through the archways on the eastern side of this room you enter into the interior of the complex. It's a marvel of engineering; a deep, stepped well plunging 90 feet to a dry basin below. Each level consists of a narrow walkway with steep stairs in the corners that lead to the level below, creating a spiraling descent to the bottom of the pit. Half of the structure is ruined, with debris littering large portions of the walkways and making the entire area treacherous to maneuver through.
Remembering what to expect from your earlier visit, it's little trouble for Luurg to ferry everyone down to the bottom of the 90 ft. well while Tiffany is able to wildshape and fly down under her own power. The strange, iris-like aperture in the bottom of the basin is now visible to everyone's eyes and remains closed as before. But now you have the strangest feeling that getting it open will not be an issue. Perhaps something changed when you depowered the glyph in the observatory? Or perhaps Gerlach...or Mohl'omog himself...unlocked it for you, in anticipation of your arrival. Either way, Luurg now has no trouble opening the portal.
As the portal is opened, it reveals a 10-foot-square vertical shaft that drops, as best as you can tell with your light sources, another 90 feet to a watery chamber below. As to how deep the water might be, there's no way to know without descending to see for yourselves...
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The strange feeling of nausea that you felt does return, but with it comes a shifting sensation that you can actually feel occurring within you. It doesn't hurt at all and when the feeling passes, you actually feel a little bit...hardier...for the discomfort.
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Luurg looks at the loud man and nods "You look less gud mang. We get dis dun quick ok? Ok." Luurg proceeds to ferry the group down to the iris then enhance his physical abilities with some alchemically treated fruit.
Luurg opens the hatch and peers down into the darkness. "Look dark, real dark. Luurg go look, hook up dis rope ok? Ok." He hands them 50' of rope on a grapple then flies down to scout out the very immediate area. His butterfly wings enjoying the extra muscles as they flap hard.
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3rd: Summon Nature's Ally III, Water Breathing, Lightning Bolt, Protection from Energy
2nd: Lesser Restoration, Barkskin, Flaming Sphere, Summon Nature's Ally II
1st: Snowball, Obscuring Mist, Magic Fang, Liberating Command
Tiffany awakens and spends a good hour looking at her jewelry through a loupe, or as some would call it, praying. "Alright, guys! I'm all ready to go! Let's get this big, bad, scary water god!"
After the descent, Tiffany walks up to McKieg with a glowing palm. "Fancy some additional defenses, my dwarven friend?"
Further examination by McKieg yields that while most of you have not experienced any additional changes beyond the initial ones that manifested after rescuing Sara, both Tiffany and Adyr's internal organs have shifted about under their skin. While obviously horrifying and rather uncomfortable, this doesn't seem to otherwise impact them. In fact, McKieg is pretty sure that this development actually makes any healing magic applied to the two a little more potent.
Everyone readies themselves as Luurg hands off some rope and a grappling hook and carefully descends through the portal opening, using his pretty butterfly wings to get about and sharp eyes to see in the dark.
Luurg sees that a large, spherical chamber lies at the bottom of the shaft, its strangely twisted, ribbed walls seemingly grown from the organic shell of some deep-sea creature. Curving, bone-like structures support the high domed ceiling, and stagnant seawater floods the chamber to chest level. To the northeast, a large portion of this organic growth has collapsed, revealing dark bedrock. Of the three spherical passages sprouting from this room, two show similar signs of collapse.
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Luurg pops his head back up "Dark n wet but you do ok. Ok?" He waves the others down on the rope.
"Mebe need more rope? Way down. Or Luurg float you down. Water belly deep down dare."
Once they manage to get everyone down Luurg will have a closer look around and see if he can't see any sort of sign of life, passage, etc so they know which tunnel to take.
Deciding to forgo having everyone descend down a rope - though you can always tie two together and hang it from the top for later - Luurg once again ferries everyone down the dark shaft and into a murky, flooded chamber. The water rises chest-high here but most of you are at least able to keep to your feet and walk. Tiffany, however, quickly finds that she'll need to swim in order to move around in here.
McKieg's well-established protocol of scanning for magical auras reveals that there are none present in this initial chamber and there are no tracks to speak of as the entire floor of the chamber is underwater. As he tries to determine which way to proceed from here, Luurg quickly finds that the decision has long-since been made for them as he discovers that both the northern and southwestern passages are blocked by cave-ins. It appears that the only way to go from here is to the southeast.
With his darkvision it makes the most sense for Luurg to take point, followed by McKieg and then the rest of the party. For those who aren't so optically-gifted, Adyr conjures some light as he readies his sword.
The group slowly wades - or swims, in Tiffany's case - towards the only viable passageway out of the chamber. More bony growths support this circular passageway. The concave floor is slippery and uneven, and the rocks reflect light with an oily sheen. As you move into the passageway the water level drops to knee height. You can see that the tunnel diverges ahead, although one passageway has completely collapsed. The other passageway curves towards the south and appears to gradually rise above water level entirely as it does.
Moving along everyone is on high alert, scanning this way and that as you slosh through the water, searching for magical auras, traps, any signs of an ambush, anything.
Yet this section of tunnel seems devoid of life...and anything else besides rocks and water.
Once you move into the area where the southern passage rises above water level you begin to notice several pairs of damp footprints that run in both directions - from the way you just came and from somewhere further ahead.