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Klaakz moves forward a bit so he can see the crocodile. Then he starts to chant and his eyes turn black as he raises both hands into the air. Wisps of mist rises up from the ground and gather in his hands, looking suspiciously like skulls. He casts his hands forward, and the mist fires the crocodile!
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Hechi's missiles explode in to the beast.
Granitt swings fruitlessly at the crocodile while held in its jaws.
Annabelle comes in with fire to beat back the creature.
Klaakz calls forth grim energy at the crocodile but the mist heads off harmlessly down the sewers.
Drizzic hurls a bomb that strikes true this time.
Trapped and on fire, the crocodile pulls Granitt down in a death roll
Holding on to the dwarf and then lashing its tail also at the dwarf taking the dwarf down
bludgeoning.
If flails on fire
But still burns.
Round 1Klaakz
Annabelle Tamm
Drizzic Kruhl
Granitt dying 1, prone
HechiCrocodile 48 dmg, persistent fire 2
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Haechi watches in horror as the crocodile chews up Granitt and smashes him with his tail. He hopes the dwarf can handle it, but the damage is too great; their champion is out for the count.
Oh dear. Oh dear. he thinks in rising panic. Our protective Granitt wall has given way; we're all doomed; DOOOOMED!
With the creature but a scant few feet away, Haechi looks around wildly to see if there's a way to escape this almost certain death. He turns to make a run for it when he notices his companions clustered about and stops dead. No, he thinks as he pushes the panic down. I can't abandon my fellow Pathfinders to the same fate as Granitt just to save myself. After all, I am a direct descendant of the great Apsu himself! If I cannot defeat a mere crocodile, then of what use am I?
He beats his chest twice to gird himself for what must be done, and fighting every screaming instinct in his tiny body, he steps up to the crocodile in one smooth motion.
He then brings together the flats of his hands in front of his face as if in prayer, and starts rubbing them together; slowly at first, but with the speed steadily increasing until it seems they can move no faster. Sparks start flying off his hands. He calls out "Tempus est, ut chorus belua," and slaps them down hard against the creature's exposed flank.
As the power rushes from his hands into the crocodile, Haechi makes a quick prayer to Apsu that the time for him to join the Maker of All is not yet come.
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"Wow, you don't look so good, Grannit! Are you okay?"
He moves over to the kobold. "That was awesome, Haechi! You went 'ZAP' and it went 'BAP' and then it went 'ACK!' "
He moves over to Drizzic. "I... love... your... FIRE!!! You're amazing!"
He scampers over to Annabelle. "I... did not expect that! Why do you have scales?"
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"Thank you, thank you! It is a family recipe!" Drizzic blushes at the compliment before he steps next to Granitt.
"So is this...and I promise it won't light you on fire but it is on the spicy side." he says handing him 2 Minor Elixirs of Life, insisting he take them. He then plops down and mixes up another two in case they are needed later.
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Granitt, with stars in his eyes and pain wracking through his dwarven body, his red beard made a dark crimson due to his blood that covers him. He sits on the ground, exhausted. He looks at his shield, looking a useless piece of metal strapped to his arm. "Klaaz, not great, been worse. Did I tell you about the bear, no, well that was worse." He looks to the ground, "And we lost a colleague." a great sadness is deep within his gruff voice. After a moments reflection he looks up again at the group.
As Drizzic offers some healing tonic, he accepts and downs them both.
Feeling a little better he takes another of his own potions, hoping to close a few more cuts. "Thanks Drazzic, it helps a lot."
He goes into his bag, pulling out a selection of tools, and starts to work on his shield, using a hammer whose head is dampened by a cloth and other instruments. He attempts to keep the noise of his work to a minimum with the judicious use of various clothes. As he does this he recites a prayer of making to Torag, "From the forges of creation, Torag's fires shapes the metal and stone, Torag is praised."
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Haetae is shocked! (Shocked!) when Haechi steps closer to the crocodile. What in the blazes is he doing? she thinks. She starts looking about for an escape route of her own, but only manages to say "Utinam uh!" before the crocodile explodes, throwing her off Haechi's back and covering her in crocodile viscera. Fortunately, she managed to open her wings in time and catch herself from falling. She flaps around a little and rejoins her master once all is clear.
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When the crocodile explodes, Haechi is flung backwards but lands in the shallow water unharmed. "I must say, that was unexpected, and yet oddly satisfying," he says out loud a little stunned.
He quickly recovers, scrambles to his feet and rushes over to where Granitt was standing. Haechi is relieved to find the dwarf still in the land of the living. "I'm so very happy to see that you decided not to leave us for Pharasma's Boneyard just yet my friend. I suspect that our work here is not yet done."
Haechi digs into his bandolier and pulls out a couple more elixirs and hands them to the dwarf. "Here you go. Take these. With a little luck you'll be back in top form in no time."
While Granitt is fixing his shield, Haechi turns to Haetae,
He picks some of the crocodile's guts off his cloak and attempts to wipe some of the blood off his familiar. He gives up and casts a spell instead. Waving his hands over both of them, he says, "purgo" and their appearance returns to its normal clean state.
Looking about the now empty sewers, he says to the group, "Perhaps now would be a good time to look around and see what there is to find. I genuinely hope it doesn't include another creature like this one."
Haechi then carefully walks around the walkways looking for anything unusual and to get a better idea of the layout of the easily accessible parts of the sewer they find themselves in.
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Haechi moves around and can make out the utility like room near by.
Tall stone cylinders stand in a line in the center of this chamber. Broken pipes protrude from the ceiling above the cylinders, rusted and covered in green algae. Every few moments, one of the cylinders makes a feeble grinding sound and a dribble of water flows down from the top of the cylinder and drips to the floor
This looks like a collection of sump pumps to help regulate the flooding in this part of the sewer, however they are current damage from the earthquake and no longer functional. Fixing them would take days of work
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Granitt takes the first of the potions, thanking Haechi he drinks it, before downing the second .
Haechi waves away the thanks, "No need to thank us; it's the least we can do after you kept the creature from attacking the rest of us. The way things are going, you'll probably end up drinking all our healing potions before we're done down here.
Haechi stumbles across the utility room and examines all the pipes and cylinders he finds there. He muses out loud for anyone nearby, "Looks like an interesting collection of sump pumps that presumably once helped regulate the water levels in the sewers. Unfortunately it appears they are no longer functional. I suspect they failed during the earthquake of 4698 when the Puddles started sinking."
He examines them further, but makes "Tsk tsk," noises and shaking motions with his head. "It would take days of work to get them working again, but it would be wasted effort I suspect. These pumps are unlikely to be able to deal with the higher water levels the Puddles are experiencing these days."
Haechi leaves the utility room and heads over to the strange cave entrance he sees to the south
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The sides of this chamber are rough and uneven, dropping sharply to a large pool of water that fills the entire room. To the north and south, the masonry of the sewer walls has crumbled away
The pool is about six deep at the edge and then about 15 feet in the center (darker blue) area
In the deep section looks to be some type of barnicle covered box.
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Haechi turns to look back at the rest of the group and is surprised to see Granitt close by. A little startled, he says, "Oh, hello there." Then recovering, he adds, "Looks like there's a pool of water in here with some sort of box at the bottom."
He then calls out loudly to the others back by the remains of the crocodile, "Colleagues! There's a cave full of water over here with a box in it. Anyone know how to swim and hold their breath at the same time?" He turns back to Granitt and in a more normal voice says, "Swimming is just not my forte I'm afraid."
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When Drizzic mentions the possibility of another croc, Haechi again looks into the water. He can see clearly all the way to the bottom of the pool and the barnacle encrusted box that lies there. "I don't believe that will be necessary Drizzic. If there were something as large as that crocodile in here it would have made its presence known by now. Plus, I'd hate to damage that box before we can fish it out."
He looks about at his companions and asks, "Show of hands who thinks they can get down there and retrieve the box." From what he can tell of his companions' physiques, he guesses that either Granitt or Annabelle would have the best chance in the water.
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Been attacked by a crocodile, now it's like going back to the Land of the Linnorm Kings, splashing around in cold water. Oh well in for a copper in for a gold. Granitt takes his time to get out of his armour and has a good look at the water for any threats, quick escape routes and where it looks safest. "Now look here, I expect you guys to use your magic tricks to keep any nasty bad thing off me, whilst I'm in the drink." From out of his bag he takes a length of flexible pipe, a pigs bladder, which he inflates, tying the pigs bladder so that when floating it holds the pipe above the water. At the other end of the pipe, he secures a cork, to stop water going in. "Made this when I went swimming on me first mission." he says by way of explanation, "So's I can breath underwater." With just his clan dagger held in his teeth and the water breathing contraption, Granitt carefully submerges into the water and makes his way to the chest.
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Haechi is most impressed with Granitt's contraption. "I must say, that's quite an ingenious device you've constructed there."
A thought then occurs to him. "Hold on a minute..." he takes off his backpack and digs out some rope, "... perhaps it would be wise to attach one end of this rope to you so if something untoward happens we can pull you out quickly."
He looks expectantly at the dwarf, and then another thought strikes him. "Oh, and if the box turns out to be too heavy for you to lift, you can always tie the rope to it so we can haul it out together."
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"Ohh, most kind Haechi" the dwarf smiles back at the wizard. He looks once more at the pool in front of him and looks at his companions, "No I will wear that armour, it didn't get too rusty before, s'pose I can clean it again." He puts his armour back on, and ties the rope offered by Haechi, and enters the water.
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Granitt swims down with ease and pulls up the barnacle‑encrusted lockbox to at the bottom of the deepest part of the pool. The box is sealed with wax. The lock mechanism is completely frozen and needs to be broken open.
However, while dealing with that, you hear people coming down the sewers. It is the other mercenary company. "Well looks like they decided to go for a swim. I think we can take over from here, you all have fun in the kiddie pool. The real adventures can deal with the monsters"
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Heachi is still holding his end of the rope and helping pull Granitt back to shore when he hears the mercenaries approaching. Glancing in their direction, he says, "Oh My, oh my," to no one in particular. He then turns back to the dwarf in the cavern, "You might want to put a little spring in your step there Granitt; we seem to have company."
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Granitt picks up the box and using his 'Breathing Aparatus' he marches back towards his companions walking under the water and carrying the chest. Take it up top, be easier to open there. His progress is measured in the bubbles of air recorded on the surface, fortunately his steps seem bigger as he is pulled along by the rope attached round his waist.
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Haechi hands the rope to Drizzic, whispering "Here Drizzic, take over and finish pulling Granitt in, I'll see if I can buy us some time. Make sure to keep the box out of sight of these ruffians."
Haechi then strolls up the walkway and calls out to the mercenaries, "Gentlemen, I'm so glad you could join us. I was hoping to get your opinion on my earlier performance upstairs. I've been thinking about it and I believe there is still some room for improvement in the delivery of my second line. What do you think of this?"
With an "Ahem" to clear his throat, Haechi changes his features to ones of anguish and despair, then launches into a full-throated and horribly over-acted rendition , "Please, my lord, we beseech you and ask the help of your mighty tribe." Then, with hand to chest, "We are but mere humans and lack the cleverness and skill needed to escape the clutches of the undead." Bringing his hands together in supplication, he finishes with, "Will you aid us?"
Haechi looks at the mercenaries expectantly. "No? No good? You preferred my original performance? I agree, it was hard to improve on."
Shifting to a more ingratiating manner, Haechi tries to defuse what could turn into a nasty situation. "Did you mention monsters? I do so wish you'd come down earlier and helped us with that humongous crocodile that attacked us. But, as you can see from the bloody viscera in the water around you, we managed to destroy it utterly on our own."
He lets that sink in before continuing, "We looked about some more, but there appear to be no more monsters down here. Feel free to check for yourselves if you like." He moves his arm to indicate the sewers around them.
Continuing, "It seems that you've wasted your time coming down here. I'm terribly sorry about that. We were about to return to report the wonderful news about the crocodile's demise to the king and collect our reward, but our companion..." he points back towards the cavern opening, "...decided that he wanted to go for a swim beforehand. looks like he'll be a little while coming out yet. If you get back to the king before us, perhaps you could share the good news with him?"
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Haechi's performance is a little flat but gets a small reaction from them. "Well That is nice, but we are here to make some coin. But it looks like you could use some acting lessons. I think for about 10 silver we could give you some pointers and leave you to this muck infested area."
"Seems like everyone's a critic. Well, on the bright side, at least they aren't trying to kill us... yet. Maybe they're not such bad fellows after all," thinks Haechi hopefully, but deep-down he knows this is unlikely. He glances back at the cave entrance to see how Granitt is coming along. If things turn sour here, they're going to need the Paladin. Not seeing the dwarf emerge, he turns back to the mercenaries. "Looks like I'll need to hold them off a little while longer."
Haechi puts on a look of great disappointment, "It is clear that you are not well acquainted with the Pathfinder Society. They are notoriously miserly in their remuneration. I'd be surprised if we five agents together had even six silver to our names. He gives Klaakz a quick glance that might have frozen a more sensitive creature in their tracks. "We're lucky if they give us a corner to sleep in and a meal a day at their so-called Grand Lodge. I'm sure you know what I'm talking about." He finishes his complaining with a look of distaste at the purportedly shabby way in which the Society has treated him and his companions.
He then points to the remains of the crocodile, "Unfortunately, our late friend the crocodile there was also somewhat lacking in funds. We didn't even find a single copper piece inside that great beast. We've also had no luck at all finding anything of value in the sewers. At least, not yet"
He brightens up as if an excellent idea just struck him. "Hold on though, if what you're after is money, then maybe we can come to an agreement." Haechi smiles and nods eagerly to indicate just how great his idea is.
"Our instructions from the Society say nothing about collecting any treasure we find. They only wanted us to help the king get rid of his monster problem and then do an archaeological exploration of the area. All they're interested in is dusty rocks, old books, bones, that sort of thing." he explains quickly, then adds, "It shouldn't take us but a few more hours; after all, we'll all drown if we stay down here any longer than that." Haechi shivers and looks around the sewers wide-eyed as if the very thought terrifies him.
"There's no need for all of us to have to wade through this sewage. How about you fellows go upstairs and wait for us to finish our work down here. When we're done, we'll come back up and split any treasure we find with you 50-50. If you're interested in history, we'll even be happy to share whatever other information we collected."
Haechi sees some hope in the friendlier reaction of the head mercenary to his overtures. He decides to take a chance. "That way, we all get what we want with the least effort and with no need for any potentially fatal unpleasantness between us. How does that sound to you?" Haechi looks at the mercenaries in expectation.
"Why do I have scales?" Annabelle replies while looking at Klaakz. "Beacuse I'm descended from a gold dragon! I'm from Hermea. I'll let you figure out the rest!"
:)
Annabelle helps Grannit out of the water and helps haul the chest onto dry land. "Have fun?"
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"Why do I have scales?" Annabelle replies while looking at Klaakz. "Beacuse I'm descended from a gold dragon! I'm from Hermea. I'll let you figure out the rest!"
Haechi couldn't help but overhear Annabelle's response. "Why, how very exciting indeed. I've read many fascinating treatises about Hermea and the great Mengkare, but I've never actually met anyone from the island. I have many questions to ask of you, but perhaps now is not the best time." he looks around the sewers to indicate why. "Maybe after we finish our mission and return to the Grand Lodge we can talk further."
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The Mercenaries listen to Haechi. One glances over at the dead crocodile and you hear some more muttering. They ignore the banter between Haechi and Annabelle
"you do the heavy lifting and then we come around to clean up a bit? I think that can work. Alright, gang. Let's let the pathfinders be our chums. We can come back later for the fishing."
With a murmur of agreement, the turn and head back out the way they came. Seems to have been a entrance not far from the Theater.
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To say that Haechi is somewhat surprised that he managed to convince the mercenaries would be putting it mildly indeed. "What just happened? Are they really leaving? Are they really not going to try to kill us?" he thinks to himself a little stunned, mouth agape.
But it doesn't take long for him to recover his natural self-confidence. Straightening himself up, he thinks, "And why not? Am I not a direct descendant of the great Apsu! Do I not have the blood of The Waybringer running through my veins! What chance did they have against my mighty powers!"
As soon as the mercenaries have left, he raises his arms in triumph. "Yes!"
In his mind, he hears the crowds cheering his great success as he struts back to the cave entrance to see if Granitt finally managed to get himself and the box out of the water. He was particularly interested to see what it contained.
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With a huff and a puff, Garnitt hoists the chest onto the walkway. Then hauls himself up out of the pool, shaking his beard and hair vigorously to get rid of us much water as he can. He asks, "OK then, what's the hurry? What do ya want me for? Did I miss anything?" the dwarf dripping water out of various holes in his armour. "Anyone got a towel or something, could do with getting a bit dry you know!" he looks around the companions.
"Oh and anyone got any nimble fingers or am I gonna have to use force to open this 'ere chest." He looks down at the wet chest, sizing it up Wonder if I could repair this thing, make it work for us and protect our stuff! he ponders, pulling on the wet strands of his red beard.
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"Well, Haechi went off to deal with the mercenaries from earlier...no screaming has to be a good sign." Drizzic smiles as the kobold returns. He sits down to help Klaakz with the chest.
"Any luck? Hoping it is something exciting but not the blow up in our face exciting." he says checking for any traps as they tool around with it.
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"Anyone got a towel or something, could do with getting a bit dry you know!" he looks around the companions.
Haechi arrives in time to hear the dwarf. "I've got something even better than a towel, Granitt. Hold on."
The wizard waves his hands over Granitt and his equipment, and with a "purgo" or two, the water disappears, along with whatever other grime the dwarf picked up in the sewers. "There you go. Good as new."
"I'm terribly sorry for the earlier urgency, but when those mercenaries showed up itching for a fight, I thought things would quickly turn ugly," says Haechi, and then puffing out his chest a little, he adds, "Fortunately, I managed to convince them to sit this one out upstairs. We might have to deal with them again on the way out, but for the moment it appears we have the place to ourselves. Now, let's see what's in the box."
Haechi waits with bated breath, but not too close, while Klaakz and Drizzic work the lock on the box.
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Haetae was beginning to form a real dislike for these sewers, not that she'd been particularly fond of them to begin with. First there was the crocodile, and now these mercenaries were trying to kill them. She was far more used to lounging around in quiet libraries while her master spent hours with his snout in books; all this continuous commotion was starting to wear on her nerves.
She whispers something in Haechi's ear...
...and then works herself into her master's backpack for a snooze. Perhaps that would calm her nerves a little.
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The chest is not locked. It is sealed shut with sediment. Will need to be forced open. However, that is done well enough with the tool you have had hand and Inside is an old scrap of paper with the words “For the
Ilnudar family matter” and a jade cat. It also contains 5 gold pieces
You recognizes Ilnudar as a family of some note that moved away from Absalom almost 100 years ago
You then work your way to the last large chamber.
Crashing water and the occasional bit of flotsam from the sewers flows into this large, broad pool that fills the entire cavern and extends to the northwest. A small cove stretches to the southeast where a barnacle‑covered boat is moored. The craft is mostly filled with water, and the rope securing it to the shore is saturated and beginning to rot.
Given what you know about the sewers there is definitely something not far across this pool. Though the boat looks to have been tied up for a few decades.
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Haechi ignores the jade cat and gold pieces, but his eyes light up when he sees the scrap of paper. He reaches out, and with an, "If I may," takes the paper and looks it over in detail. He tries to recall anything he can remember about the Ilnudar family.
"Oh, I remember now. An old copy I read of Quis est quis Absalom in the lodge library mentions the Ilnudar. They were a family of some renown in the city, but they moved away from Absalom almost 100 years ago. That probably means that the box has been down here at least that long. I wonder what they have to do with these sewers?"
Haechi looks somewhat askance at the rotting boat. "Does anyone here have any experience with watercraft? Because this one has a distinctly sketchy look about it to me."
He looks at the water trying to determine how deep it is. Swimming isn't his favorite pastime, probably because he isn't particularly good at it and values his own life rather highly. He also doubts that Granitt brought more than one of his breathing appartuses with him. The options seem to be to make use of the boat; swim across and back; or abort the mission.
Haechi looks again at the boat, and with a rather fixed smile and a voice of forced optimism, says, "Maybe the boat isn't in so bad a shape as all that," and starts pulling on the rope to bring it to shore so he can get a better look at it.
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Once he's pulled the boat to shore, Haechi realizes that the first thing they have to do is empty the water from the craft. He's about to give it a shot, but prudence wins over confidence. Instead, he turns to Granitt and Annabelle. "Perhaps you burlier types will have more luck emptying the boat than I. I fear that my puny arms may not be up to the task; I may well damage the boat further if I make the attempt myself."
Haechi will give Granitt and Annabelle whatever aid he can in their attempts to tip the water out of the boat.