At the end of the last session, the party had descended some 1,300 feet below the surface of an Underdark sea or lake or whatever the large body of water would be considered in their search for Morgil. They stumbled upon the lair of some skeletal fishman type creatures and a skeletal snake thing. Although the battle was difficult, they prevailed. The things had a rather large treasure hoard and that’s where we pick up after the break.
This recap is from Rachel. Muse was missing so Thomas played Meri while RJ played Skarr (who is now the group’s character since Todd isn’t playing anymore). Jubi’s comments, again, are in [brackets and italics].
After taking out the skeletal snake creature and waking up our party members who had been put to sleep, we started searching through the big pile of treasure. We found the following:
- Leather-looking armor that feels like metal, which Meri put on. She did not look happy about it being on and tried to take it off but could not do so.
- Black leather armor/coat with a spider theme (apparently Drow), which I (Rory) put on. It feels so supple and is better made and looks better than the leather armor I had.
- A stone mace that Verrak recognizes as a siege mace, which is dwarven and magical, can be made big (like a maul), and is good for attacking inanimate objects.
- A ring that is a band of smoky quartz. Adran put it on first and it looked like smoky mist around his figure. He wondered aloud it if could make him misty too and he suddenly disappeared. He wished be visible again and suddenly was, with the ring back to being a solid band of smoky
quartz. The group decided to have me wear it to help with sneakiness as needed. - 6 turquoise stones, which Adran put in his pack.
- A small carved bone bracelet (the carving looks like tentacles), which Dench put in his pack.
- A small gold figurine of a dwarven warrior, which Verrak put in his pack.
- A soapstone goblet, which Skarr put in his pack.
- A silver figurine of Demogorgon—Verrak wanted to hold on to it but once Meri put on the leather- looking armor she insisted upon having it.
- A silk rope in perfect condition, which Dench put in his pack.
- A magical flask, which Verrak put in his pack.
- There were also a lot of coins, more than we could fit in the bag of holding, but we were able to pack up 74 platinum, 970 gold, and 2956 silver. Adran is carrying the bag of holding.
[Oh yeah, we’re rich. We’re gonna make it rain BBQ and sushi!]
After we loaded up the treasure, took a short rest, and healed, we headed out of the tunnels toward the cave entrance. Jubi Jr. was there and said he did not know where we went so he waited here. Jubi says Jeff and his friends are outside the cave and that Jeff is big. I moved up to the mouth of the cave and peeked out but could not see anyone/anything moving out there. As I turned to go report back to the rest of our group, I suddenly felt a sharp pain in my back and was yanked out of the cave.
[Rory said that I couldn’t just eat anyone and so I waited here. Plus, Skarr and his friends outside didn’t seem very friendly and they threw sharp things at me.]
The others came to the mouth of the cave and saw a large fishman had harpooned me and three smaller (but still pretty big) fishmen. I was knocked out a couple times but Meri healed me. We took out the larger fishman and two smaller ones; the larger one had sent the third smaller fishman off to get the rest of the hunting party. After taking out the three fishmen, we started swimming toward the surface but had a ways to go.
[Tasty! Who knew that fishmen taste like sushi?!?]
800 feet from the surface, a larger fishman swam at us and attacked—we took him out but we took some damage. 300 feet from the surface, we were attacked by two smaller mfsihmen. We took them out but took some damage from them as well. 50 feet from the surface, two more fishmen attacked us. We took them out but took damage from them and I was knocked unconscious. Fortunately I came to pretty quickly.
[I could have carried you, Verrak.]
We made it to the surface and started to climb up the cliff, with some of us a bit slower than others. Dench made it up pretty quickly in spider form and he and Verrak lowered rope to the last couple of us to finish climbing up the cliff. While we were climbing, a fishman shot up out of the water, trying to attack a couple of us on the cliff. Fortunately he just missed us.
We waited a few hours and then took a long rest, having set up the large mushroom caps as a shelter again. During Dench’s (the 5th) watch, he saw a lot of insect legs approach and stop near us, but then continue on their way. The next morning, we regrouped and healed up as much as we could. Adran detected magic on the items we have found so far and determined that the smoky quartz ring, the leather-looking armor Meri has on, the stone mace, the flask, the silk rope, and the black leather armor I have on are all magical. The two potions and Drow dagger that Verrak found in the fountain in the room with the blob statues that animated when touched are also magical.
[Those belong to dad. You should probably put them back. What’s for breakfast?]
Before heading to the stone bridge, we split up some of the items to carry. Verrak is carrying the non-magical, non-money items; Skarr and Dench are each carrying 300 gp; and Rory hid the bag of holding on her person. We moved to the stone bridge and rang the bell at the end. Six ogres came onto the bridge.
[daHeadRat back…
That’s where we ended the session. We got off to a late start and so had a relatively abbreviated session that was dominated by the “running” battle with the fishmen. When these creatures spoke, such as when the larger one told one of the smaller ones to go get the rest of the hunting party, only Meri could understand what was being said and she doesn’t know how. No one in the party could recall the language that was being spoken, however.
It was certainly a bit touch and go during the party’s ascent to the surface. By the time that they reached the surface, they weren’t pretty much out of all of their resources. If the large fishman at the end had succeeded grabbing one of the PCs climbing the cliff (either Rory or Adran as they were the lowest), I have a feeling that it would have been the end of that character.
Fortunately, they all escaped with their lives as well as the biggest treasure haul that they’ve seen yet.
Lots of money and a bunch of magical items that they don’t quite know what they do yet. The obviously drow armor that Rory is wearing remains a mystery in terms of powers. Meri’s new armor does let her react quicker in combat (Thomas knows that Meri gets advantage on initiative checks) but that’s about all. Verrak knows about Siege Maces and that the stone mace they found is obviously one. The smoky quartz ring did make Adran disappear but when he reappeared, he wasn’t able to use the ring again to disappear so they think it has limitations in uses per day or similar. They have no idea as to the powers of the flask, the rope, or the items previously found in the “blob” fountain room. [Hey! Those belong to dad!]
I’m sure they’ll be looking to turn some of that cash into pearls when they get a chance. We have a house rule that the identify spell consumes the pearl when cast…call it an old school sensibility. First, however, they need to get back to Pedestal and maybe, eventually, Cagair Keep. First though, they’ll need to get pass the ogres on the bridge. 😉
Beer Log: This week was an RJ beer week…in that he provided almost all of the beers we tried. Here they are using, as always, our hit, miss, crit, and fumble rating scale.
- Orpheus Atalanta: I’m pretty sure I’ve already posted about this one in a prior session but I’m always happy to have anything from Orpheus. I haven’t had a bad beer from them yet. Tart, fruity, and tasty…a great saison that’s a near crit.
- First Magnitude Drift: A roasty and smooth English Ale that is quite pleasant and a hit. I think this is the only First Magnitude that I’ve tried so far but it is a good sign.
- Cigar City White Oak Jai Alai: An incredible disappointment. Prior batches of White Oak have been outstanding and a crit but this batch…this batch sucked. Stale tasting, flat feeling, and seeming almost like an old beer despite being just a couple of weeks old. Even looking past what it has been, this wasn’t a good beer…a definite miss.
- Coastal Empire Dawn Patrol Mole Breakfast Stout: A stout with a bunch of stuff added…raisins, coffee, peppers, spices…but it doesn’t really work well. Kind of weird but not really a good weird…a miss.
Oh…I forgot to mention (and I forgot to mention on Saturday) that as the party reached the top of the cliff after escaping the last of the fishman monsters that the waters below were roiling with activity (i.e., there were a lot of creatures swarming about in the water).