In dam chambers. Grazuul the Scrag killed, Scorpion construct evaded in control room. Meet a pit fiend. Thassilonian gate system recharged, pit fiend destroyed. Come out and see water pouring through three open gates, and a sight of Black Magga. Kill ettin in cave at west end of dam. Returning through the Valley of Broken Trees, get into a fight with hill giant Razmus & kill him too. Camp in his cave overnight (from ca 2am-10am).
Quillax's Journal
Journal (27-Nov)
Sepheria had started some reading while we were resting and she couldn't be parted from her studies as she was on the verge on a discovery so she sent us ahead with Moncey. We continued down without her and eventually found the stairs opened into a room about half way down the dam. We judged ourselves to be roughly the level of the giant skulls that decorated the front of the dam.
We paused outside the room as it had a large pool of stagnant, slime coated water. Having previously encountered ooze and such hidden in water, we were cautious, as slime and the nearby pile of skull did not indicate it was a safe room.
Neril threw a copper coin into the water as a test. We watched the water expectantly but nothing happened. Claw then poked at the pool with the end of his staff, disturbing the surface layer long enough to see something move under the water. He was able to jump back and avoid the first lunge of a Troll as it rose partly out of the water. It bore a club studded with adamantium shards.
I recognized it as a large aquatic troll known as a Scrag, which can regenerate itself while in contact with water.
Jarrick stepped forward and attacked but was unable to knock it prone. I threw a spell from the stairs but missed, so I shifted to my animal form and moved into the room.
The Scrag struck at me and left painful injuries even as the water healed it some. Claw raged and struck the troll, followed quickly by Neril and Jarrick. Clockwork was unable to land a blow. I tried to pull it from the water so it could not regenerate but I was not able. The Scrag caught me with its claws again as I tried to retreat to free up some fighting space. With my animal form as damaged as it was, I was forced back to human form but I quickly summoned my form again.
The Scrag attacked Neril even as the water continued to heal its injuries. Claw was able to yank the troll out of the water and Neril then managed to stun him. Clockwork came to my side and stood guard over me. Jarrick maneuvered into a position and attacked. I stepped forward, attacked, and retreated to keep from crowding the others. Neril's stun held for a moment more and Claw, Neril, Jarrick, and I were able to land attacks. The Scrag shook off the stun and struck me again as it tried to retreat into the water. Claw failed to drag it out of the water a second time but Jarrick struck a heavy blow and killed the troll before it could recover. He dragged the Scrag's foot from the water before it could regenerate.
Jarrick pried the adamantium from the maul as we watched the body to ensure it did not return to life.
Once we were certain it was staying dead, I cast water breathing as a ritual and Claw, Neril, and I descended into the filthy water to investigate while Jarrick and Claw watched the body and the doors. There were two tunnels, East and West. Claw went East while Neril went West and I waited in the middle to play backup to whichever might need me. When both returned, we surfaced and spoke. Both East and West tunnels ended at small pools within larger rooms. Both rooms seemed empty at first glance but Neril had been able to locate a hidden door. Jarrick joined us in the water and helped pry it open with his crowbar. Neril swam down the tube which led North (Kraken side). It ended with another door that he examined; the damage indicated that the Scrag entered the dam here and closed the door behind itself. We decided to leave it alone.
We headed East next. There was a control panel set atop a set of stairs on a dais. I looked but it was too complex for me. We assumed the skulls with the jeweled eyes on the control panel represented the skulls on the dam. All the lights were off, so we believed the power was off.
We relayed the situation through Moncey back to Sepheria, who confirmed our assumptions. We turned on three skulls so that when we got the power working, it would open three sluices, not all five which would potentially be a disaster for anything along the river as it would certainly flood.
There was a noise above us and Neril and Claw spotted a skull-covered, scorpion-shaped construct crawling across the ceiling above us. I recognized it as a Skull Ripper. It would be immune to lightning, fire, and so much more as it was neither metal nor alive. Claw attacked, Neril moved in and attacked before he retreated to open the nearest door. Their attacks proved the existence of golem resistance.
The Construct lashed out at Claw and managed to grab him, moving as if to cut off his head. Jarrick tried to free Claw with the crowbar but could not, so he retreated back to open the other door so the barbarian had a quick exit route on either side of the room. I took a constrictor form and tried to bind up the construct so that it could not kill our teammate. I was not able to control it but Claw freed himself and jumped into the water. Neril darted in to attack and draw attention away as he called for us to retreat. I was grabbed by the construct but Jarrick was able to free me with the crowbar. I took owl form and hurried to safety before I summoned animals to distract the construct for Jarrick to escape.
We slammed the doors and waited to see if it would give chase. After a period of silence, we decided it was safe. We headed across the room and pushed open the double doors. There were two chambers in this room. One contained a pile of red dust of sorts; the other a large but weak looking demon/pit-fiend, Avaxial. It told us that if not freed the system would drain the last of its energy.
It tried to bribe us for its freedom, but we were not willing to let it loose on our plane. If we could have banished it, that would have been my choice as it had been trapped there with a second one for centuries powering the dam. After some discussion, we agree that it could not be released but we had no way to dismiss it. As our goal was to fix the dam, we were forced to make use of it to power the dam. I summoned an animal inside the other circle and the dam rumbled into life. The demon was destroyed and I banished my summoned creature as it was in pain. Without anything to power it, the dam stopped but the power was on long enough to activate the sluice gates.
We collected Sepheria as we left the dam and she deduced that two healthy adults would be able to power the dam's mechanisms long enough to change the gates without dying, so there are still options available to the local area.
We peered out over the dam and could see that on one side the water had dropped and on the other, the river had risen but not to dangerous levels. The Kraken popped up momentarily to look at us before it disappeared back into the water.
The only safe route down was the cave system which we bypassed previously. We prepared ourselves to take on the Ettin, with Claw raging and charging in. Jarrick and Neril and Clank all followed while I threw magic from the stairs. The Ettin landed several blows to Claw, but not enough to knock him down. Clank managed to land the fatal blow by cutting the Ettin's femoral artery. Claw beheaded the Ettin, just in case, and Jarrick took the skull necklace it was wearing.
Despite my reservations, we headed back towards town by way of the Valley, avoiding the Fort for the moment, where we ran into the Giant Razmus.
Though we could not understand the Giant-speech, it was quickly apparently that Claw failed at his diplomacy attempt as he bore the Troll head aloft. Neril attacked and retreated a safe distance away while I called down lightning. Jarrick tried to persuade the Giant we meant no harm, but Claw had truly angered him. We were forced to fight and as injured and exhausted as we were, we were ill prepared. Claw was forced to retreat and hide around the corner while Clank attacked. Neril kept his distance and went to the Giant's cave to look for anything to use in our favour. Jarrick was forced into the fight but his heart was not in it as he hoped still to stop the fight and he tried simply to knock the Giant prone.
When the Giant struck Clank hard enough to send sparks up and not long after also struck me, I was quite done. I called Clank to me and I called for a retreat as I prepared to shift and carry him away. Neril and Jarrick were already placed to run and Claw could outdistance the Giant given enough time.
Neril, from his spot outside the Giant's range, struck with some sling-stones and the Giant staggered. The sign that the Giant was so weakened heartened us and we regrouped and struck hard. I lashed out with lightning and claws while the others bore down on the Giant with steel. Jarrick and Claw struck hard but it was Clank who, once again, landed the fatal blow.
We settled into the Giant's cave, despite the smell, under Sepheria's dome of protection for a well deserved (long) rest.
Treasure:
- 1053 gp
- 1240 sp
- velvet pouch containing 6 large pearls worth 100gp each (keep for spells!) and a box with leather inset which we recognize as a phylactery
-- Phylactery of Channeling (positive channeling) needs to be worn on wrist or forehead and any positive energy is channeled ((to Jarrick))
--- channel against undead - 2d8 more damage
--- channel for healing - double the effectiveness
- ivory scroll tube set with jade (worth 300gp) which contains 3 separate spell scrolls (Cone of Cold, Hold Monster, Telekinesis)
- Ring of spell turning - resizes to wearer.
- Earthbreaker mace [+1 maul] 2d6 ((to Claw))
No comments:
Post a Comment