Getting out of lightless depths

[red scare]

My players have no access to teleportation spells. Only spell caster is a druid and you can't very well cast transport via plants since theres no trees underground and giant fungi don't count as plants. So I wanna play them through going back up the flooded tunnels and facing some aboleths. But actually getting back out the way they came seems really hard (climbing rock surfaces with tons of water crashing down on you is like a climb check of at least 40. Also they spent awhile to get down the lightless depths I don't want it to be painfully slow getting back out. Any suggestions.

[Matthew Vincent]

red scare wrote:

Any suggestions.

Well, the adventure says that the PC's can walk out without too much trouble. To me this means that path they took to get in isn't getting drenched. The water will be coming in through other holes leading to Galismorga, but it'll be days before their exit path is completely flooded.

It also sounds like the PC's entrance tunnel is one area where the air is escaping through (making them pretty windy). There might be some rivulets and streams forming, and some areas may no longer be accessible, but overall the path should be traversable.

Mind you: any manner of creature might be trying to escape along the same path (giving the PC's a reason to move with all haste).

It you just want them to get out quick, have them cast resilient sphere, then fill up the passage with water so they float out rapidly like a bubble. If they don't have resilient sphere, give them an 'escape pod'(Bead of Force with directions on how to use it and where to go in case of flooding).

[MrFish]

Good suggestions there. Are there any npcs they helped that might be able to provide a deus ex machina type escape as well? For example the couatl from the Temple of the Jaguar?

[Carl Cramér]

Fungi do not count as plants?