"That's me! Cap'n Lockerbie Brast, late of the Liza Jane, at your service," the ghoul says with a grin. "I'd tip me hat, but I fear I lost it long ago. Mine is a sad tale, I'm afraid. A group of lacedons attacked me at sea and infected with me with their bleedin' ghoul fever. I was delirious from the fever when I wrecked me ship against the Crow and sank to a watery grave. But the fever brought me back in this wretched form, and so I've languished in a lonely unlife ever since!"
Charlotte listens, attempting to remember what she can about ghoul fever.
The doctor nods as she thinks. "Where did you get the paints?" her darks eyes drift back to the lovely painting, still amazed.
Charlotte recalls that the bite of a ghoul can infect living humanoids with a powerful fever that causes exhaustion and delirium. The infected eventually loses the ability to heal from injuries and then dies, rising as a ghoul the following midnight.
"I found it around this place," Lockerbie says. "Ye like me work?" The ghoul beams proudly.
"There be many dangers lurking around here. I'd be happy to tell ye about 'em, but I'd like a favor from ye first. When my ship sunk, I lost a valuable treasure--a broach. Find it and bring it to me, and I'll lend ye me aid."
Charlotte looks at her companions, who seem to be entranced by the mural even more than she is. "If you ship sunk, how would we get it back for you?" she knows there is magic that allows for things like this, but she doesn't have any. She looks over at Wesley, to see if he might have a solution.
"The ship wrecked not far from the Crow," Lockerbie says. "Ye probably could swim out to it and hold your breath long enough to search it. There's been too many dangerous critters in the way for me to get out there meself."
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Isabel hasn't been entranced by the mural so much as thoroughly skeptical about the whole situation. But the ghoul seems to be responding well to Lottie so Bel keeps her peace, at least for a while.
"How much more is there in the Crow?" She asks. "We've worked our way down from the top. Are we close to water level now?"
Fallende huffs in annoyance as the others engage in the undead horror in casual conversation. She knows how this will end. You don't negotiate with creatures like this - they'll betray you at first opportunity.
The firm line of Charlotte's mouth says what she thinks about holding one's breath while dealing with predators. But instead just nods and lets Bel take over for a bit.
"We're below the water level now," Wesley says. "Do you remember that door near the devils that had seawater nearby? I wonder if there's not an underwater exit through there. Perhaps some ancient magic keeps the water at bay. It might be worth exploring to see if it's near the wreck the ghoul speaks of."
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"So below water level and we still haven't found it." Isabel summarises, drawing her group away from the ghoul to speak privately. "I don't mind helping him, but it isn't what we're here for and I don't want anyone getting hurt on a... side trip. Let's check out that door and then back track to find whatever we've missed. It was definitely in the Crow wasn't it?"
"It's here somewhere," Fallende says with a confidence born of self-assurance, rather than knowledge. "If we have to swim to find it, then we will swim."
Charlotte looks back and forth between the other two women, then just shook her head and followed them.
Seeing the doctor's look of trepidation, Fallende's lip curls upwards in a rare show of humor.
"What is the problem? Do you not like to swim, ma chérie?" she questions with a chuckle, before giving a wary glance at the ghoul.
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"Fire and water don't mix well." Isabel says. "Besides, we were told quite firmly that swimming wasn't ladylike, along with smoking, drinking, sitting with crossed legs, wearing trousers and almost anything else fun you can think of."
She smirks and gestures to her own legs, which are protected (and rather flattered) by a pair of trousers. "I've rather made it a mission to do all those things."
Charlotte lips twirk downward at being referred to as fire, but her mouth gets under control, and then goes to a slight smile of remembrance. "You rebelled, and I conformed. Only partially so you would have to be told daily 'why can't you be more like that nice Plumth girl'" her attention shifts to their chuckling elf friend "Sadly what Bel says is true, so I didn't learn how until the army. They felt even the doctors should have some basic training. Just in case." she explains, more than she needs to.
You retrace your steps through the rift siphon maze and the chambers once ruled by Lord Baz until you find yourselves at the door that smells of the sea. Salt encrusts a trail in the floor across the room beyond. Stairs lead up and down. The descending stair is filled to nearly floor level with sea water, and a thin layer of blue energy shimmers across the surface of the water.
The ascending stairs lead to a domed chamber some twenty feet above. Three permanent walls of force serve as windows that look out across Outcast Cove. The view is somewhat murky, and seaweed growing up from the sides of the tower serves as billowing curtains that sometimes block the view. However, the sunlight that filters down through the water reveals the wreck of a fishing tralwer that sits nearly upright on the floor of the harbor not far from the piling.
Searching the room, you discover a hidden slat in the sill of the central window, within which sit two very well preserved scrolls of water breathing.
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"Oh, the betrayal!" Bel says, clutching a hand to her heart in overly dramatic fashion.
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"I suppose we have to go out to the trawler." Bel says without enthusiasm once they find where it is. "Lottie, Wes, can you make these scrolls work? I don't feel like holding my breath that long."
"Of course," Wesley says matter-of-factly. He unfurls one scroll and reads the lengthy incantation. As the magic settles over you, you feel your lungs tingling with energy. "That will allow us all to breathe water for an hour. It should be plenty of time."
Once you are ready, you pass through the magical barrier and enter the cold water of the cove. The stairs exit onto the bottom of the cove from the base of a stony underwater escarpment, 40 feet below the surface. You make your way over to the fishing trawler, the nameplate of which reads Liza Jane. Seaweed has overgrown its rails and deck, and barnacles encrust its broken mast that rises above the green mound of its hull.
As you draw near the ship, however, two giant crabs emerge from the wreck! They clack their claws as they scuttle towards you aggressively!
Seeming almost joyous at having something to attack, Fallande moves forward through the water to engage. Combat underwater isn't like combat on land, though, and her form suffers.
The crab's shell protects it from Fallende's attack. Both crustaceans claw at the elf, but neither one hits!
Pulling her dagger out of its sheath, the doctor swims next to Fallende and tries to stab the creature in a vulnerable part.
Only now noticing how detrimental the water is to her use of her weapon, Fallende, nevertheless, continues to stick to what she knows.
Wesley zaps one of the crabs with lightning, while the other avoids it. Isabel flanks the injured crab with Fallende and lands a hit, then Fallende finishes it off with a powerful blow!
The second crab remains unharmed. It snaps at Fallende, scoring a critical hit and grabbing hold of her in its pincer!
Charlotte steps behind the crushed elf, grabbing her bag, and injecting the warrior with a concoction they used on the front lines at Lastwall that makes the solider be able to ignore the wounds until the doctor can properly care for her.
The elf makes no effort to escape the shelled-beast and takes it as an opportunity to flail at it.
Fallende and Isabel each land a hit on the crab, then Wesley is able to finish it off with a beam of ice!
With a few minutes' search of the wrecked ship, you discover a gold-and-
pearl brooch inscribed with the letters “L. B.” This is the brooch that the ghould Lockerbie Brast asked you to recover. You also find a low-grade silver rapier and a glamorous buckler.
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Isabel scoops up the items, since Fallende already has enough weight to contend with, and heads back inside as swiftly as she can swim.
"Well let's not do that again!" She declares once they're all back inside. "Lottie, when you're done would you like to give him his brooch?" She doesn't seem overly impressed by the rather tacky buckler but offers the rapier hilt first to Fallende for her opinion.
Charlotte nods as she does seem to be the one that has the least problem with the ghoul being a ghoul. She spends a few moments stitching up Fallende's wounds, while she drips in a sodden mess.
"Ready" she states when she is done, accepting the brooch and waiting for the other two women to lead the way. Since that is the marching order.
You return to the chambers beneath the Crow piling, the water leaving your clothes soggy as you slosh back down to return the brooch to Lockerbie. He sighs with relief when he sees it.
"Arr, that eases the burden on me heart. Thank ye, mateys. I'll tell ye now that seveal deros dwell in the chambers to the south. There are four in all, led by a witch of some sort, but the little blighters seem to have some sort of growing feud. If ye want a better chance against them, ye'll need to approach the southern room slowly--use the balcony through yonder tunnel. That should give ye a chance to observe the deros and plan an ambush.
"Now, mateys, I've one last offer to ye. If ye will promise to deliver the brooch ye recovered to me wife, Liza Jane Brast herself, I'll help ye fight the deros. Tell her that ye found it in the shipwreck but found no sign of me. Hopefully that will give her some closure, and ease her no doubt troubled heart..."
Lockerbie takes the offered hand, shaking it with his sodden, rotting one. "Aye, this way!"
A flight of stairs leads up to a wide stone crossing ten feet above the dark waters below in the large room to the south. You cross the water and continue up another flight of stairs that lead to a balcony overlooking a large room at a height of ten feet.
Blue, glowing fungus grows in numerous patches across the walls of this large chamber. In the center of the room a wide spiral stairwell descends into the darkness. A second flight of stairs descends along the western wall.
Three deros, two males and a female, are gathered here, arguing in Aklo. They have yet to notice you lurking on the balcony above them...
The elf receives the rapier with doubt.
"It is so small," she comments, looking over the blade with suspicion. "I do not understand why people do not make weapons that feel like weapons."
"Ready" she states when she is done, accepting the brooch and waiting for the other two women to lead the way. Since that is the marching order.
Before Charlotte steps away, Fallende stops her with a hand on the woman's shoulder. Shaking her head and rolling her eyes with a chuckle, the elf reaches out and gently takes a firm grasp of the woman's hair. Giving it a strong squeeze, rivulets of seawater spatter to the floor.
She continues to smile as she pulls a leather tie from her bag and quickly ties up the doctor's hair into a small warrior's knot. "Vous êtes un gâchis dégoulinant. Beau, mais toujours en désordre," she mutters under her breath as she works.
"There, not so much dripping now, n'est-ce pas?" she offers once she finishes.
The elf looks at the others and shrugs her shoulders, having no idea what the figures are discussing.
An eyebrow in a questioning pose turns into a full uplift in surprise, as the elf tends to her hair. Her and Bel had fiddled with each others hair enough that this gesture should not feel so... something, but...
She truly did need to learn elven.
"thank you" a smile is given with the gratitude, her hands going up to feel the knot briefly as they continue on.
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"I have a spell..." the oracle slips back, hopefully far enough her casting won't be heard, then returns a moment later to listen.
Charlotte sees the brow, raises a finger for a moment please, and then cups her hand around her ear to listen.
Charlotte's magic allows her to understand the Aklo words. The deros are arguing about the best type of victim to abduct to continue their experiments. The oracle gleans that the deros have been using a nearby tunnel to sneak into Magnimar and abduct stock from the city above. The victims are then subjected to hideous procedures (most of which involve vivisections and other studies the deros hope will provide a solution to their aversion to sunlight) before having their minds wiped clean via poison and magic, at which point they’re returned to Magnimar’s streets, barely able to function on their own.
The deros eventually come to an agreement, deciding to abduct several fishermen from a Dockway tavern. They are about to disperse--now would be the ideal time to ambush them all together, or you could allow them to go their separate ways and pick and choose which ones you fight.
As Charlotte relays the conversation in hushed tones, Fallende's eyes narrow and her jaw grows rigid.
As the dwarves turn to go their separate ways, the elf grips her weapon tightly and without hesitation, steps up onto the railing and then off to drop to the floor below.
"VICTOIRE SUR LE MAL!" she shouts as she plunges into their midst, striking at the nearest of the derro.
As the elven warrior falls like vengeance on the horrible little monsters, Charolotte rises to standing, the fire inside her billowing into dark smoke, and erupting into her palm
Unfortunately it seems she is more worried about hitting Fall then hitting her foes.
Fallende quickly leaps into the fray, slicing one of the dero and frightening him! Charlotte's fire ray goes wide of her target. Wesley nods to Isable, casting a spell to speed up her movements!
Isabel scores two hits on the dero that Fallende struck, leaving him badly wounded. Lockerbie leaps down and takes a big bite out of the wounded dero's jugular, taking him down!
The other two dero shriek in panic! They turn and flee in opposite directions, pausing to open doors set in the walls and proceeding through them!
The elf swings her sword wildly at one of the fleeing dero before charging off after the opposite one.
"You cannot outrun justice or your fate!" she calls out.
Charlotte climbs down, much less gracefully or action-oriented than the other two women, and follows Isabel as best she can.
Wesley hurls a large projectile that sails past the dero as they scatter. Fallende slices at one before charging at the other, landing a hit. Lockerbie bounds alongside Isabel as they attack the first dero. The ghoul tears out a huge chunk of flesh from the dero's neck, but Isabel fails to finish it off.
The dero Fallende is attacking turns and tries to fend off the elf, swinging her club before taking cover behind the open door. The other one attacks Isabel, even as another creature emerges from the laboratory behind him. This monster resembles nothing so much as a flying octopus with six tentacles connected by a thick leathery shroud. The dero steps back behind the monster as it wraps itself around Isabel's face!
Completely unaware of the violation of her companion, Fallende continues to swing at the cowering dero with wild strikes.
The doctor finally gets down off the balcony, keeping pride someone in tack doing so (unlike the flying attack leaps of her companions). She turns quickly to get the status of the fight, to see Something wrapped around Bel's face, writhing, tightening, and "NO!" she shouts, not wishing to know what comes next. The smoke billows around her, flames shoot out of her hand. A more precise attack but weaker because while she wants that thing off her best friend, she does not want to burn her.