"I think we should hold off on the underwater exploits for now. If my powder gets wet, I'll be nigh on useless in a fight. I should probably pick up a waterproof bag next time I'm at the market. Let's go check out that tunnel," Jon says.
Mac looks around. "Looks like a swamp....maybe the lair of the swamp dragon the mitflits told us about? I agree that we do not want to go swimming. What do you think about making splashing noise in the water, maybe get the drake to come onto land? I'm willing to go in and draw it out, if you guys back me up. Or we can head south?"
”I can’t swim very well either. I don’t want to ge trapped in the water. If you think you can lure it out, cousin, I say you go for it. If it doesn’t bring it relatively soon, we can head in the other direction.”
With Grym's blessing, Mac wades into the swamp water, greatpick in hand, until he is waist deep and then he will make splashes and loud noises in the water, trying to draw some creature out of the water. He will then back out of the water, moving back onto dry land.
Hagrym stands by with his shield drawn and at the ready.
Jon makes sure both barrels of his pistol are loaded as he waits for Mac's splashing to lure anything in.
Mac does his reenactment of a Jaws movie, splashing around in the murky water for say, a couple of rounds, before backing up carefully back to the cavern floor. While the party waits nervously for something to happen..
Jon heads to the square to Grym's right in the hall to use the wall as cover and reloading whip strikes against anything in front of Mac.
"My friend, a swamp dragon that is not. Perhaps to the uneducated minds of the gremlins and others like it. But what you're describing, bit its color, size, and fish scales, is more of distant cousin to a true dragon: a drake. These creatures are smaller than a horse, amphibious, can fly, and are driven by instinct. They are ravenous and bestial. They have powerful jaws and thick-scaled tails that they use to rend their opponents in combat. For ranged opponents, they rely on a breath weapon of acid, apparently, from what you have described to me. Be careful with these creatures. Where they lack in reason, compared to true dragons, they make up with ferocity. What I will tell you is that drakes, like dragons, like to keep a hoard of their treasure. So if you defeat one, be sure to search for it. Also, if you find any drake eggs, I would be definitely interested in purchasing them so please keep me in mind."
Mac grips his greatpick in one hand and in the other, holds a throwing hammer, in case the creature stays in the water. "Given that this beast is said to have a breath weapon of acid, I recommend that we not bunch up. Spread out more, 10' apart. I'll try to draw its ire, since I am the bulkiest."
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After a few rounds of nervously waiting, the water in the flooded cavern begins to stir, as a ripple of water rushes toward the party. 20' from Mac's position, a green draconic-looking creature leaps out of the water, with glistening scales and sleek, fin-like wings. In Draconic, it speaks, "Outsiders, dare interrupt my slumber...suffer the wrath of Freznelkesh!"
Round 1: Freznelkesh
Angered by the party's trespassing on her domain, the drake rears her neck back and spits a ball of caustic mucus at Mac, that explodes in a 10' burst of acid, harming no one else besides the dwarf.
The creature, driven more by instinct and ferocity than intelligence, then rushes in top tear Mac to pieces.
Jon aims and pulls the trigger◆ on the drake.
Frowning, he reloads◆ and takes cover◆.
The cleric moves north, just to the west of Jon, and lashes out with his blast of divine energy, trying to take the enemy down through Torag’s power.
Divine Lance attack
Damage
Round 1: Mac
Mac grunts as the acid burns him. He summons his inner rage and goes on the attack, landing one good blow!
Garidan ◆moves behind Mac and takes a close look at the lantern-lit dragon.
◆
◆
"Well done, Pen. Excellent technique. Once Grym patches Mac up, how about we check that narrow tunnel to the south?"
"Hey, I finally hit something!" Garidan cheers in a sarcastic surprise.
The cleric moves to his cousin’s side and attempts to treat his acid wounds. ”Youve got to be careful out there, cousin!”
Treat Wounds
Hit points healed
"Well done, all! Thanks for the advice, Grym, but somebody had to draw the drake's attention and ire and I was the best suited, so stop chastising me." He smiles at his cousin. "Wow, feel good as new. Thanks cuz! Before we move on, Morbilint did state that drakes like to keep a hoard of treasure. We're going to have to dive into the water to find its lair sooner or later. I am sure it was the alpha predator so the dangers should be minimum. But, Jon is right, let's clear out the tunnel first so we don't get ambushed later on." Mac steps in line right after Pen, as normal.
The party proceeds carefully down the dark and cramped tunnel into an opening in the wall, where Pen can see the following:
A sofa-like throne made of an old mattress, several pieces of reconstructed furniture, and dozens of bones sprawl along the northern side of this room. A narrow rivulet of muddy water trickles from a narrow tunnel to the south and forms a puddle in the room's center.
A mushroom-eyed, white-haired morlock dressed in robes with a club tied to his waist sits on the "throne", having his nails manicured by another morlock, more feral looking and dressed in a loin cloth only, also armed with a club. He straightens up as he sees Pen enter the room, Garidan's lantern giving away the party's position. The morlock gestures with his hands and addresses Pen, motioning for him to stop, first in an unknown language, and then in Sakvroth, which Jon understands. Pen, however, does not and he is at a loss.
"He just told us not to trespass any further into his kingdom and to keep our dreaded light away or we'll get hurt. He says he's the king, Graulgust, and asks us what our interest in his territory is, and who else we've brought with us," Jon translates. "Garidan, I think that means you better hang back until diplomacy fails because I for one don't want you turning your lantern off."
"That's no problem. I can turn it on and off with a mere thought.
"I just told him our mission to investigate and turn off the Gauntlight, introduced us and our occupations, and offered to broker some sort of peace with Skrawng if possible. Maybe if we negotiate a peace treaty of some sort, we can still get some of Skrawng's shiny gems," Jon explains.
The morlock king smiles as he hears Jon converse in his tongue.
"He mentioned being morlocks of Ghost Queen, her chosen and favored ones. He figured out that we killed most of Scrawng's tribe too, and they have no desire to move up to a higher level, so Scrawng can live up there without being harassed, by the morlocks anyway. And he asked if we ran into the water monster that's been harassing his people and asked if we had proof. I'll let him know we did and that we can get the body if he wants. And if you guys have any questions for him, I'll translate for you."
The party sees a morlock dressed only in a loincloth come into the tunnel and move past you heading toward the drake's territory. It closes its eyes to avoid Garidan's light.
If so, the morlock, a couple of rounds later, can be heard screaming in delight.
"King Graulgust asks that you guys come out in the open but just to keep the light away to avoid hostilities. And he just named us 'Acolytes of the Ghost Queen' for killing the drake. And also offered to reward us handsomely if we clear the level below of ghoul cultists so they can access the library and wants to know what we think about that proposition," Jon translates. "Personally, I can't think of any good reason for any ghoul to remain living--er, unliving. They're vicious bastards."
Hagrym shrugged at Jon’s translation. ”Ghouls have always been evil in my dealings. Cousin and I have had bad dealing with undead, so I say let’s take them out. Do you trust these morlocks, Jon?”
Hagrym shrugged at Jon’s translation. ”Ghouls have always been evil in my dealings. Cousin and I have had bad dealing with undead, so I say let’s take them out. Do you trust these morlocks, Jon?”
Jon shrugs, "The King has been friendly enough with us so far, and if our investigation into the Gauntlight leads down to the next level, we'll have to kill the ghouls to pass by anyway, so may as well get paid for it."
Mac leaves the tunnel and enters the room next to Jon, letting him handle the diplomatic negotiations. He nods at Jon's summary. "Jon, see if you can get more details about the ghouls and their base of operations? Their leader, how many of them, can he draw us a map of the 3rd level, etc.?"
Jon nods and relays Mac's question to the morlock king in Sakvroth.
Graulgust sneers, as he addresses Jon's questions. "Those heretic ghouls call themselves the Cult of the Canker and they must be slaughtered for the glory of the Ghost Queen. The cult numbers around 12-15 members and are led by a high priestess named Nhakazarin, who's making some sort of statue made of flesh in honor of the Ghost Queen. Can you imagine that? Made of flesh?! What an abhorrence! She should be executed just for that notion alone! As for the map, I'd be happy to scribble down the areas I know. You can take the stairs down from the room behind the secret door in the NW section of this level. I will indicate it here also. This will lead you down to the visitor's reading room, then you head north to the guard room, which is patrolled by an elemental made of mist, then head east to the main library, where you can head south to the reading room or north to the restricted collection section, where there are valuable tomes. That is as much a I can recall. So what say ye?"
Hagrym nods. He was in on eliminating the undead.
Mac nods at Pen. "Yes, and ask him if our safety is guaranteed when we come back. He could be thinking that we eliminate his rival and then betray and eliminate us."
The morlock king smiles at Jon's questions. The other morlock returns from the tunnel and stands at his side, confirming in Sakvroth that the drake is quite dead.
Graulgust looks intensely at Jon, studying how he reacts and how he translates to the party.
"Mac, you're right. When he spoke just now it could not have been plainer he's lying about rewarding us. We tried diplomacy, now it's time to put our mean faces on. I'll see if I can intimidate him with the threat of light into surrendering; otherwise he'll see exactly how we dealt with the threats we've met so far," Jon says.
Graulgust is taken aback by Jon's bravery in speaking to a "king" in that manner, but he stands his ground, and is not intimidated and in his native tongue, he spits out. "Death it shall be to the enemies of the Ghost Queen!"
Round 1: Mac
Mac moves in and attacks the morlock guard.
Mac lands a powerful blow on the morlock guard. Pen follows up and lands an equally powerful slash to the same opponent, now off-guard. The guard is bleeding, but still stands.
Jon draws◇ his whip and pistol.
Jon fires◆ on the king with an angry glare.
Then Jon fires◆ the second barrel.
He finishes off with a reloading whip strike◆ to refill one of his barrels.
Jon's bullet strike lands, but it is not a critical, inflicting 4 damage. The whip attacks miss.
Round 1: Graulgust
The king screams..