Syper chuckles over the "genie" and Kork.
"Thank you for the warning!" he calls out as the scamp dissolves.
"Well," he continues, speaking with his companions, "I could ask for some help in finding our elemental foe, as well as our brimstone entrance. With our luck, the entrance is going to be in the central tufa somewhere," pointing out the boulder in the middle of the spring.
He stands near, but not touching, the water, looking over the surface. "A being of air and water with a single eye... I wonder what that could be?"
Pulling a tin cup from his pack, he sets it afloat in the air with a mage hand cantrip. The cup floats close to the water line, ready to grab a sample.
"What are we up for, a climb or a swim?"
As you enter the basin, you feel the ground beneath your feet become much warmer, and detect the faintest sulfurous stench.
The spray of the waterfall kicks up a thick mist at the base, obscuring whatever could lie behind the liquid curtain.
As the cup returns to you, you don't notice any corrosion. Apart from the temperature of roughly ninety-five degrees, there is little evidence of any unusual properties bestowed by its proximity to the volcano.
Jade raises her shield warily and walks bravely forward to the edge of the water to get a better look at the spring.
"What foe? There no foe here." Kork shrugs. "Pick up necessities and leave. If steam aggressive, get rid of steam. If not, meh." Kork casually straddles up to Jade, still looking around for the genie.
Okoteck draws his sword as he approaches the water. "Steam-based elemental creatures can often spray clouds of scalding steam. We'd best not clump together. Speaking of which, Hyggiandi, it's probably best if you take wing and circle overhead, out of reach. Your greater surface-to-volume ratio would make you particularly vulnerable to such attacks."
The only sounds are the hissing and purling of water tumbling into the basin. The central rock prevents you from getting a decent look at the base of the largest waterfall.
Jaym'row edges to the northeast part of the pool and studies the rocks she would have to cross to get a closer look at the various steaming waterfalls.
The rocks along the wall are slippery and don't offer many good handholds. You can only realistically see yourself getting a quarter of the way around the basin counterclockwise, with difficulty.
Okoteck gazes contemplatively at the spring. "Perhaps we could provoke a response if it seems necessary... or perhaps whatever the creature is, it is not as confrontational as we have been led to believe."
"That said, perhaps some of us can begin searching for the required materials while the others keep watch?" he suggests.
Assuming no one objects, he cautiously advances and begins looking for the borax.
Cup in magical hand, Syper responds, "I can create that distraction whenever you want, just say the word," as the cup floats further out over the spring.
"Seems to be what I'm good at," he mutters under his breath, tossing a sheepish grin to Kork.
Okoteck locates a deposit of volcanic borax encrusted on the wall of the basin. As he pulls out a small pick and moves to pry it from the wall, something in the mist at the base of the largest waterfall begins to move, and with it, the mist itself.
The cloud begins hovering forward upon the face of the water, moving towards Okoteck slowly and menacingly.
Jade runs◆ south and then readies◆◆ an elemental blast for when it gets within 60'
"Well," Syper observes, "There's our one-eyed whatever."
He clears his throat. The cup falls out of the air into the spring. "Hey Jenny, would you mind giving us a hand?" he calls out in a resonant voice that feels like it penetrates deep inside the world.
A small creature, flying on leathery wings, looking like a dessicated fish or bat, picks up the cup over the water. It looks at the mist and responds, "I suppose... um, that's no good."
Jaym'row creates an illusion of something like the naiad encountered earlier, surrounded by swirling mist. She places the figment between herself and the advancing creature, hoping to hide behind it.
The creature's single floating eye appears to blink, focusing on the figment rather than its creator.
Syper's conjuration takes hold a moment later, tilting the apparent odds even further against the creature.
Okoteck drops the pick and draws his sword. "Can you speak?" he calls out in Jotun to the creature, even as he prepares himself to fight. After a brief moment's debate he decides to go with his usual preparation for combat, summoning a shield and cycling the excess magic of the spell through his blade.
Kork sighs, pulls out Spikes, and walks AWAY from the water, just in case. He scans the approaching entity as he backtracks.
◆ Manipulate, ◆ Stride, ◆ Exploit VUlnerability
The creature floats forward over the surface of the water, its cloak of mist surrounding it in an obscuring aura.
As it approaches within a few dozen feet of Jade, she attempts to blast it with lightning, but her assault fizzles, the electricity short-circuiting into the water.
Jade moves◆ out of the aura of mist and tries to see if she recognizes the creature◆.
Then she sends an elemental blast◆ at the mist.
vs DC 5, success.
Jade sends a blast of hailstones toward the creature, striking it dead-on. The mist makes it difficult to evaluate damage, but an ethereal gurgling roar informs you that it is not amused.
Jaym'row sustains her figment, fires an arrow at One Eye, and then moves slightly to put the illusion between her and the enemy.
(Range 60 ft)
x 2 for critical = 6
x 2 for critical = 10
if target is off-guard.
Jaym'row remembers a moment from when she was a kit playing with a toy bow and arrow and her mother warned her to be careful as a misfired arrow could put someone's eye out. She is thankful she can do just that in this situation.
Jaym'row's arrow flies right into the heart of the cloud, and the creature gives a gurgling roar of pain. For a brief moment, its unblinking eye slides shut.
"Unfortunate that we could not communicate," Okoteck sighs.
He jabs quickly with his sword, then retreats, not wanting to stay in melee with the creature.
Once he's opened the distance he renews his magical shield.
Syper calls out, a fluid, gurgling sound.
To the gremlin, he adds, "Jenny, get in there and assist Okoteck!"
He then cups his hands over his mouth and lets out a long, low, droning note from the back of his throat, singing, "We can defend ourselves from the mist!"
He finishes by drawing his bow.
Haniver: Stride to melee range with the mist ◆, Ready action to Aid Okoteck ◆◆.
Okoteck's blade connects with something solid, and a sibilant hiss of pain emerges from the mist. Syper attempts to unnerve the creature with wit, but his quip doesn't quite land. His song, however, energizes his allies, redoubling their assault.
Kork walks to the edge of the fog barrier, peeks into it, hoping to see some sort of movement in the mist. A few short seconds after, he throws Spikes into the fog with all might.
"Genie still owe Kork a wish!" he shouts into the cloud.
Kork's knife fails to connect with the creature, bouncing into the water with a clink and a splash.
The creature glides forward, dragging its damp shroud of mist with it. The being of air and water waves a tentacle, and the gray nebula congeals, sucking at your feet like thick mud. It even climbs up Kork and envelops him in a clinging cocoon of mist that locks his lower body in place.
It fixes Jade with a gimlet monocular stare, and gurgles something she cannot understand, though its rage is unmistakable.
The creature then swings its tentacle at the kineticist in a deadly arc. It clips her side, bruising a rib.
Jade staggers under the blow, then draws in ice from her aura, coating her fist in thick coating of ice and pummeling the creature with it◆◆.
Then she places a hand to her side and draws in healing water to reduce the bruising◆.
Jade's icy fist connects with a thunk, and the creature gurgles in pain. It appears to be losing steam––literally. The creature is beginning to fray around the edges, its form on the verge of losing coherence.
Jaym'row keeps her illusion active, stays behind it for a moment, hoping the monster will lose sight of her, and then sends another arrow at it.
(Range 60 ft)
if target is off-guard.
The mist stalker's unblinking eye loses track of Jaym'row for a moment, and in that split second, she strikes. Unfortunately her shot misses the creature by a handspan, spinning out into the distance.
"Bazz Fazz!" Jaym'row mutters as he shot misses.
vs DC 17
6 hp.
Okoteck waves his sword in a mystic pattern, conjuring a shield of ethereal force. He then raises a claw and unleashes a blast of lightning at his foe. Much of the charge is diverted by the mist, but the gurgle of pain from the elemental signifies that the spell was not completely in vain. The mist stalker is now venting gray tendrils of fog from countless small weak points in its aboral surface.
"Jenny, show him what you've got!"
The gremlin chuckles and screams a gurgling invective at the mist creature while Syper moves around it to flank it with Jade and attacks.
Syper commands his minion to strike mystical fear into the elemental. It flaps its undulating body, sending out waves of supernatural terror directed at the creature. It is partially successful, as the misty agglomeration begins moving erratically, as if from sudden agitation.
Syper takes this opportunity to fire two swift shots at the mist stalker, one of which connects. The creature gurgles softly, as more, larger holes opens up in the substance constituting its body and begin venting even more of its misty essence.
"Oh, genie come to Kork now?" Kork charges deeper into the mist, Spikes in hand, and slashes at the thing.
Kork's blade strikes hard and true. The creature gives a final howl of pain that dwindles to a low sigh as the various holes in its central body meet and merge, unleashing a gout of elemental essence that quickly dwindles as the monster deflates.
As the mist stalker dies, it gives out a wearying sigh and evaporates, its singular glowing eye dimming and dropping to the ground. The mist swirls around Jade as it begins to dissipate, and a faint blue glow briefly surrounds her head.
Moments after the mist stalker dissipates, the steam mephit emerges from a crack in the ground, floats down to the surface of the water, and immerses himself in the warm pool with a sigh of relief.
”At last, the miserable hunk of rock you mortals call home becomes tolerable,” he says, eyes closed in relaxation. Then they snap open and he says hurriedly, ”I mean, thank you, kind mortals, for putting an end to that vexatious beast! My erstwhile master’s effects are in that leather bag over there.”
He points toward the far wall, where you spy a waterproof leather bag.
Inspecting the bag, you find a series of notebooks filled with what appear to be random bits of lore regarding the elemental planes and its various denizens, along with a few pieces of magical formulae scattered throughout the book. Also included is a letter of acceptance to the frœthleikr hus in Oxbane Keep, addressed to the notebooks' author, one erstwhile Kirrin Tayhur, from the desk of a hedge wizard named Aldinngenga. And at the bottom of the bag are 15 silver pieces.
Okoteck scrapes a few pounds of the volcanic borax from the walls of the basin, placing it in his bags. As Jaym'row's exploration of the remainder of the basin brings her near the location of the cavern behind the waterfall, she detects a faint unpleasant smell.
"Hey! Something smells funky over here!"
As soon as Okoteck sees the notebooks, he quickly gathers them up and starts looking through them. He seems completely oblivious to the rest of you until someone reminds him to collect the borax, at which point he sighs, reluctantly stuffs the notebooks in his bag (next to his personal notebooks) and sets about gathering the borax.
As soon as he's done he takes out one of the notebooks again and continues reading. He distractedly comments, "Volcanic springs often have sulfurous emmissions," when Jaym'row comments on the smell.