After suffering a TPK last week just prior to the Temple of the Ancient Ones, my group's new PCs, a search party dispatched by Lavinia, set out for Golismorga. Thus, there was no Irgzid with them this time as they arrived at the Temple. After a failed attempt to guize itself as one of the fallen character's spirits, the Aboleth surfaced and began to give the PCs the old "enemy of my enemy" speech. They were quite diplomatic (as one of my players told me, "I think we dodged a bullet there") and accepted the aboleth's advice. Here's the interesting thing. One of my players is playing a druid/beastmaster with elemental companions instead of animals. His fire elemental could not move through the water of the temple, and his earth elemental perferred not to. So, he asked the aboleth to protect them until he returned. The aboleth "graciously" agreed, but seriously, what would he do here? My first instinct is to have him devour the elementals, but he will have to reckon with the PCs on their way out of Golismorga (that tunnel, after all, is the last to flood). Would he play nice while the PCs destroy the "kopru filth" or was this simply a stupid decision that should turn out as such? If he does kill the elementals, should the PC "feel" it (a la Yoda in ROTS)? Looking for ideas.
I don't think that the Aboleth would be all that bothered about them.
If it had it's enslave ability then it would be a different matter.
The Aboleth is so bored that it would probably try and communicate with the elementals (I believe that Aboleth's have a Telepathy 100ft ability, though that is not included in the SRD). Perhaps it would try and find out what's been going on, getting information on the party and the outside world. Who knows, one day it may be able to use this information, after all they do live for a very long time, so there's no such thing as useless information to them.
If really bored, it might splash some water at the Fire Elemental, but the Aboleth is in to precarious a position to try anything at this stage.
My thoughts are that an aboleth would not destroy the elementals just because. If doing so would piss off the PCs, and they'd definitely be coming back for them, then why do it at all? Aboleths don't do things without thinking it through from every angle. Besides, I don't think elementals taste very good.
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I'm inclined to agree. It has nothing at all to lose and everything to gain by keeping the PCs sweet. Right now they're doing it's work for it, and it's not going to be convinced that they're on it's side or anything. By not doing anything drastic for a few days it proves its trustworthiness to them, opening up possible future avenues to exploit this.
It may never see them again once the flood hits, but why antagonise them when it might bump into them in a years time and immediately have a friendly strike force to use? With no counterargument, acting pre-emptively against a neutral/ friendly force is pointless, and aboleths don't do pointless.