From his position on the damp floor Wadi curls into a fetal position as he attempts to direct another fiery blast at Mohl'omog, but all the sounds of battle and waking up to find himself on the floor proves to be incredibly distracting and the spell misfires...but at least he doesn't get tentacled-slapped again.
While Tiffany buffs McKieg and makes him all swole, Crocodilla finally manages to sink her teeth into Gerlach's leg! Though she's not able to really twist enough to cause any extra damage with the bite or connect with the tail slap, she's still got a firm hold on the skum!
And now firmly grappled and hampered by the crocodile, Gerlach finds himself left with few options. He draws out a trident and attempts to skewer the croc that holds him in place!
But thanks to being hampered he can't land a hit!
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Gerlach
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Adyr
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Mohl’omog
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Luurg
Wadi
Tiffany + Crocodilla
Sheela + Aquas
McKieg
Active Conditions: Bless, Inspire Courage +2
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain (Water Squares), Real Mohl’omog (Green)
Adyr is UP!
With the cavalry now arriving Adyr is quick to channel a little more healing into Wadi and then fall back, drawing his bow as he does. Though Wadi is still clearly injured and looking oddly...translucent and membranous...he's still looking better now than he was a few moments ago.
Unable to see and maintain his line of sight to his illusory double, the shadow-Mohl'omog winks out of existence and makes the chaos of battle just a little less chaotic. The real Mohl'omog continues to flail about, blindly thrashing his tentacles at the only target in range that he can halfway sense...
...and though the little elemental manages to duck the first tentacle, a second solidly connects and with a *poof* Aquas is returned from whence he came.
And then, in a rather alarming move, the three-eyed beast heaves itself forward and off of its bier towards the rest of you! Luckily it seems to have been made for swimming and not for land travel as it moves sluggishly, flopping only a few feet forward.
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Gerlach
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Adyr
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Mohl’omog
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Luurg
Wadi
Tiffany + Crocodilla
Sheela
McKieg
Active Conditions: Bless, Inspire Courage +2
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain (Water Squares)
Luurg, Wadi, Tiffany + Crocodilla, Sheela and McKieg are UP!
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"Thank you Aquas. I think I'll call you back." Sheela shuffles 5 feet away and begins casting Summon Monster 2 to recall Aquas the Small Water Elemental
"Ah, Luurg? If you're done with Gerlach we could use your help here!"
Out in the passageway Luurg delivers one final thrust with his new best weapon-friend, driving the spear all the way through the skum's body and clean out the other side! The skum's eyes widen in shock as thick, dark blood trickles from his mouth. For a split second, the madness that had so clearly danced behind Gerlach's eyes vanishes and he looks up at Luurg. His lips move, but no sound comes out. Yet Luurg's close enough that he understands them anyway.
"Thank you."
Then the skum's head drops and his arms fall limp at his sides.
As Wadi hurriedly scrambles to his feet and out of the way, McKieg hauls off and delivers a mighty chop to the monstrosity that is Mohl'omog! The creature emits an unearthly screech as the dwarf's axe slices deeply into a tentacle but there's still clearly much life left in him yet.
Sheela is also careful to fall back a pace as she begins to re-conjure Aquas the Small but Fearless Water Elemental. She calls out to Luurg, hoping that maybe he's taken care of business out in the passageway...
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Adyr
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Mohl’omog
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Luurg
Wadi
Tiffany + Crocodilla
Sheela
McKieg
Active Conditions: Bless, Inspire Courage +2
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain (Water Squares)
Tiffany + Crocodilla are UP at the bottom of Round 8 and then Adyr is UP at the top of Round 9!
While Crocodilla follows after Luurg, in search of more prey, Tiffany tries to bean Mohl'omog with a sling stone but as big as the creature is, it's surprisingly agile! The stone clatters against the far wall and splooshes into the puddled water.
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Adyr
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Mohl’omog
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Luurg
Wadi
Tiffany + Crocodilla
Sheela
McKieg
Active Conditions: Bless, Inspire Courage +2
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain (Water Squares)
Adyr is UP!
Adyr, still maintaining his oratory, raises his bow and takes aim at the three-eyed, four-tentacled Mohl'omog - even infusing a bit of arcane power into the arrow as he releases it!
*clink*
Who knew that such a monstrosity would be so hard to hit?
And speaking of hitting, the glassy fog that had clouded Mohl'omog's eyes finally clears and he fixes McKieg with a baleful glare before attempting to lash out with all four tentacles!
Bolstered by many magics, McKieg ducks and dodges and parries the incoming tentacles save one that manages to slip in under his arm and slam against his ribs. It doesn't actually hurt that much, but the instant the tentacle makes contact he feels a strange tingling sensation emanating outward from said contact point...
Your skin and flesh begins to transform into a clear, slimy membrane! This transformation occurs over the next rounds. It doesn't hurt but your vitality seems to suffer for it and you're pretty sure that if you don't keep yourself moist until this can be resolved you'll start to dry out. And that might actually hurt.
It's about this time that Sheela's vanish spell fades, revealing her exact position to the rest of you, and that her summoning spell completes and Aquas joins the battle for a second time!
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Adyr
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Mohl’omog
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Luurg
Wadi
Tiffany + Crocodilla
Sheela + Aquas
McKieg
Active Conditions: Bless, Inspire Courage +2
Environmental Conditions: Difficult Terrain (Water Squares)
Luurg, Wadi, Tiffany + Crocodilla, Sheela + Aquas and McKieg are UP!
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Aquas the Small Water Elemental returns, looks at the fishy thing and shrugs.
Off to the new job. Looks like the old job...
Sheela remembers the Elemental Gem of Fire they found. She sighs. "Why didn't I do this before? Now there's no room. Ugh!" She grins and casts Vanish again. "I have an idea, keep the thing distracted."
Having had. enough. of. this. Wadi hauls off and flings a fireball into the small chamber where Mohl'omog flops, which explodes with a mighty *BOOOOM* that shakes the cavern and engulfs the creature in flames! And as the flames die down, Sheela vanishes from sight once more as Aquas the Small Water Elemental pops up behind Mohl'omog and attempts to get in a good punch, which the creature manages to avoid.
Still, Mohl'omog very much looks worse for the wear after the fiery blast...and as McKieg takes another mighty swing, he buries the axe right in the middle of the beast's center eye! A single, echoing shriek pierces each one of your minds...and then the four tentacles flop to the floor and the creature shudders before growing still.
Combat Over!
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"Well done, friends." McKieg congratulates the team and draws a wand, activating it to mend his wounds.
"Wadi, do you need help?"
Once the casualties are treated, McKieg checks on Gerlach, to see if the misguided fool can be saved.
After that he returns to Mohl'omog's lair and aids in the search, checking for magical auras, as well.
As silence falls over the chamber and the surrounding passageway Luurg flies in like the world's largest butterfly, barely finding enough clearance to squeeze through and overhead thanks to his large size and the enormous corpse that takes up most of the cavern.
After a precautionary stab to make sure that Mohl'omog is really dead, really really, he looks around to make sure that everything else is good.
And it is. Well, mostly. There don't seem to be any sounds of anything else approaching - or fleeing.
But it now becomes obvious that Mohl'omog left behind a parting gift in whatever his tentacle did to Wadi. The sorcerer's skin has turned completely clear and membranous, with a thin coating of slime. Not only is this pretty unnerving to behold but everyone, especially Wadi himself, notices that said skin also seems to be slowly but surely drying out - except where his feet and legs are submerged in the water.
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Luurg pulls out New Spear happy to see the big Mo Mo is DED. He dunks the spear in the water for a quick cleaning then eyes up Wadi's... change.
Luurg wades over and promptly lifts Wadi up and out of the water by one arm and spins him around trying to get a handle on what's going on with the scrawny, angry man.
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"Aquas, check the area and bring anything shiny or valuable to me."
An invisible Sheela takes a look at Wadi's shiny butt condition. "Luurg, tell me if you find anything. Wadi, I don't know what that thing did to you but we will help you out. Worst comes to worst we can find someone in a major city to help you."
Assuming we can get to the city before it's too late... Sheela hangs her head low (not that anyone can tell) before turning her attention to Gerlach. "Someone more perceptive than me should search Gerlach. Maybe he has some notes on this horrible thing."
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Tiffany slowly tiptoes away from Wadi, a repulsed look on her face. "I mean... It could be contagious..."
Once she's far enough away, she drops her guard, and calls ahead to Wadi. "If you wait until tomorrow, I just might able to remove disease and get rid of that nasty skin rash!"
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Now that you've got a little time to breathe, several things happen. The primary thing is that Luurg turns his attention to Wadi in an attempt to identify his condition - and by doing so, how to cure or reverse it. While the half-orc can't conjure a specific name for Wadi's affliction, he is certain that Remove Disease would reverse the change and that other similar magics, such as Remove Curse, might also work.
And it just so happens the group has a prissy grippli druid that can help with that! Tomorrow. Unless someone else is able to apply a more immediate fix it looks like Wadi is going to need to stay submerged in water to prevent his skin from drying out and cracking until then. But if Grandmaster Torch can do it, then surely Wadi can as well!
While Luurg, Sheela, and Tiffany focus their attentions on Wadi, McKieg and Aquas venture back into the passageway to check on the status of Gerlach. Unfortunately (or perhaps not, depending on who you ask) the skum magic-user is well any truly beyond all help; Luurg's New Spear did its job and did it well. With a little help from Crocodilla, of course.
With Gerlach and Mohl'omog both dead, it now seems safe to finish investigating the remainder of the caverns and tunnels, as well as Gerlach's person. Inside Mohl'omog's lair Aquas finds many, many shiny things piled around the bier that the creature had sat upon, as though they were perhaps offerings. There's an assortment of old coins that totals 1,436 gold and 1,500 gold in ancient Azlanti jewelry as well as a small pearl that glows brightly when examined for magical auras.
On the body of the skum caster himself, McKieg turns up 307 gold, a potion, a wand, a trident, a cloak, and a headband - all of which radiate magic.
It's a potion of Cure Light Wounds.
It's a wand of Ray of Enfeeblement with 9 charges remaining.
This is a +1 Trident.
Ooh, a Cloak of Resistance +1.
A Head of Alluring Charisma +2!
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When the group presses further on, the passageway very shortly turns northward and terminates at one final chamber. This chamber is partially flooded, its dry western section reserved for an alchemical lab cobbled together from salvaged Azlanti equipment. The lab appear to have not seen use in weeks, as dried chemicals and reagents have gummed up its condensers, extractors, and crucibles. Thin copper sheets hover above the makeshift lab, engraved with esoteric formulae.
A scan of this chamber for magical auras reveals that several of the ingredients seem to be magical in nature; it also reveals the presence of a wand lying on the floor near the wall. While the copper sheets do not radiate magic, further investigation does reveal that they detail the process needed to make something called an 'Elixir of True Form'.
Hey! It's wand of Remove Curse with 6 charges remaining.
It seems as though perhaps some of Gerlach's earlier work to reverse the change of his people might have paid off! There's enough salvageable ingredients here to make six Elixir of True Form - the key to reversing the slow warping that all of you have been undergoing since you first arrived on Nal-Kashel.
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Tiffany's gaze is immediately shifted to Gerlach's goodies and the many magical auras they glow with. She pads through the water to examine the items, keeping her detect magic divination going.
"Ugh, most of these things are, like, way too complicated! But this wand is a wand of ray of enfeeblement, still has 9 charges, too! And the trident is one of those plus one varieties."
Yet she's most enthralled by the mass of coinage and many, many shiny things in Mohl'molog's lair, and dives right into them. "Gold, coins, TREASURE!" She breathes, her head buried beneath a stack of copper.
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Tiffany slowly tiptoes away from Wadi, a repulsed look on her face. "I mean... It could be contagious..."
Once she's far enough away, she drops her guard, and calls ahead to Wadi. "If you wait until tomorrow, I just might able to remove disease and get rid of that nasty skin rash!"
Luurg raises his currently enormous eyebrow (sans hair) at Tiffany's admission of expert healy skills "You nebber tell Luurg you such gud Med'cin woman! Mebbe Waddi best if he let Tiffy help. Luurg gut deez med'cins, but no magiks." He holds out his healer's kit and some vials of murky green liquid.
The calls of loot soon rouses Luurg from attending to Wadi though and he heads off with the others (now in medium sized Luurg dimensions). "Hrm, yup, dis stuff alchemy/med'cin stuff. Dat Gerlak was gud wid dat. Lemme looks."
Luurg rubs his belly as he looks through the ingredients. A couple times actually. "Deez real gud med'cins. Make us all betters, not make us fish mang's." He points to Waddi "I tink even make 'im all gud. Ok? Ok."
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Lab
"Ah... thank you, Aquas. You can go now."
She holds up the pearl and looks closely at it. "A Pearl of Power. Good for third list spells... of which I have none. Also, you need to prepare spells in advance, so Wadi nor I would find it useful. Tiffany, can you use?"
"Potion of Cure Light Wounds."
"The trident is magically enchanted, I'd give it a 1 out of 5."
Sheela shrugs at the rest of the goods. "Wadi, you'll have to stay hydrated for now. Luckily the villagers know how to handle this. Especially since we know their secrets."
After some investigation and examination of the items you've found, you're now certain that you'll be able to fix the warping you've already endured and maybe even cure Wadi's new affliction all with these elixirs!
That said, they're still in their component parts. Luckily, you're in an alchemy lab and having thoroughly explored these underground tunnels and chambers you're also certain that you've got plenty of time to work without interruption.
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Luurg gets to work immediately on mixing up the special skum island cocktails "Dis stuff fancy stuffs. Luurg werk wid fruit mostly. I tink I got it ok. Ok?"
Thanks to his headband of spellcraft smarts, translating the world of magics into his world of fruity concoctions, Luurg makes quick work of the recipe.
"Only nuff stuffs here for us six. Not nuff fer dem skums. Dunno if it werk on dem skummies anywho." Luurg admits, a bit saddened by the admission.
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"Well, I am sure we can find more ingredients once we get out of here, since we now know the recipe." Wadi responds as he eagerly takes one of the fruity draughts and gulps it down, the terrifying thought of being constantly submerged in water more than enough to overcome any trepidation on sampling the elixer.
Eager to be rid of your afflictions, you wait for Luurg to finish brewing up the six elixirs - which he accomplishes in no time. Though you only have enough here for six doses, one for each of you, you're hopeful that more will be able to be made to stop the transformation of Blackcove's gillman population into dread skum. That said, the elixirs will need to be administered before transformation is complete as there is no going back once a gillman finishes warping into a skum.
And though it might've been a little more prudent to wait until leaving the island first, Wadi can't wait any longer and chugs his elixir down. His translucent, slimy skin begins to ripple and warp before your very eyes...and then slowly return to normal!
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After the rest of the team has identified the magical properties of most of the recovered treasure, McKieg mutters a prayer to Yuelral the Wise for guidance and examines the headband and the wand.
"This is a headband of alluring charisma +2," the warpriest says, then shakes his head. "But I'm not sure what this wand does."
"Well done, Luurg," McKieg compliments the half-orc, watching him work the complex alchemy. "Soon you'll be turning straw into gold."
When the alchemist's brew successfully stops the transformation of Wadi into a frog prince, the dwarf breathes a sigh of relief.
"Now we need to prepare enough to save the villagers."
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"Luurg love mixing up new tings. Next time wid more rum!" Thoughts of resting in his hammock back at the Grand Lodge with a coconut mango rum fruity drink in hand brings a smile to his face.
"Yup, more rum." He collects the necessary equipment, and especially the copper plates with the formula. Double checking to see if the ingredients are on the island or available beyond.
"Sooner we go back to shore da better. Luurg not wanna turn to fish mang." He gives a sideways glance at the recovering Wadi.
With Wadi now restored to his former self there seems little reason to remain on Nal-Kashel and after gathering up everything that you can carry, including Gerlach's notes, you retrace your steps back, up, and out of what had turned out to be Mohl'omog's underground prison.
You return to the excavation cove where you had fought the large group of skum and saved the imprisoned villagers, only to find it seemingly deserted with numerous footsteps leading into the sea. All of you recall that Sara and Lira had offered to work on guiding the freed villagers back to Blackcove while you ventured below and that Vegpig had offered to keep watch with his people as they did so - and it would seem that they completed their task.
But as you ready yourselves to hike back up the stairs carved into the cliff so that you may return to Wedding Rock Cove - and your stashed boat - there's a rustle nearby and a familiar-looking plant face pops up from behind some rocks.
"Made it back! Tall-legs, you made it back!"
Vegpig hustles toward the group, lifting his little spear in a victory dance. "Knew you'd come back! Did you do it? Did you kill the lurker below?"
"Huzzah! You tall-legs make island safer, for other tall-legs and for us too," Vegpig cheers, little legs flailing about as Tiffany goes dancing along the sands with him. "And yes, the other sorta-fishy-tall-legs went back into sea, few at a time. Two tall-leg females from earlier helped them. They said would be waiting at tall-leg home for you, if you came back," the vegepygmy adds as he gestures towards the sea.
"You should go meet them," Vegpig nods in Wadi's direction. "But this my home, people's home. I stay here, okay? We be okay now that dweller-below gone. Home safer now," he smiles.
"Thank you for saving me and home and other tall-legs. You tall-legs good. Friends. Welcome back, always!"
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Luurg nods and smiles at Vegpig as he declares them all friends "You friend too plant mang. Luurg have gift for plant mangs." He removes his overstuffed backpack and digs around, pulling out a pair of hairy coconuts. These ones fully intact, not primed for explosions like the ones hanging beneath his belt.
"We find gud place to plant these ok? Dey grow up n make tall palm trees dat make many of deez nuts. Real gud eatin', drinkin', n blowin' up. Ok." Luurg looks around for some suitable sandy soil to plant his gift. Not wanting to leave this barren island nearly so barren for the veggie pygmies of the future.