After returning once again to the keep, where they discovered that their guests had moved on, the adventurers were attacked by a cluster of piercers. The armor and dexterity of the party members allowed them to avoid most of the living stalactites, who turned out to be very easy to deal with as they moved agonizingly slowly and had no limbs with which to attack. Whiff!
After clearing the decks of these pests, the party investigated the southern beach. They found a set of nine drowning pits and were ambushed by a horde of ghouls. The ghouls acted scarily and made ineffectual moaning and groaning noises, but didn’t actually hit anyone as they were burned, sliced, stabbed and smashed. Whiff!
A short investigation yielded no treasure, so the party moved on. A fog had arisen on the western beach, and there were shadows moving in it. Aria cleared some of the fog only to come face to face with bugbears and reavers who had set up an ambush, but alas, did not surprise anyone. The one-eyed shiver that leads the gang was able to cast several spells before his demise, with his Thunderwaves doing considerable damage. Otherwise, the reavers and bugbears were able to act menacingly and cause the party to bring some heat, but really, they were largely ineffectual too. Whiff!
Using the key they had found on the shiver, the party unlocked the iron gate to the west, and Sytarii and Reyroris took the opportunity for Sytarii to practice his lock-picking skills.
Then they started exploring the rooms to the northwest, first finding the bugbears filthy lair, then the shiver’s alchemical lab with a disassembled Water Weird tank. Ganus was able to successfully reassemble the tank… it remains to be seen if it will actually hold a Water Weird tank. Still grumbling about his misfortune in the brewery, Reyroris was somewhat appeased now that he had a Water Weird backpack, albeit an empty one.
Heading back to the Sea Hag’s area of the temple, the party went north. There they found an abandoned, smoky, smelly kitchen. And the gong. Sytarii really wanted to bang the gong and face the ginormous dragon turtle, but the party talked him out of it and continued on. Phew.
This lead them to bridge over the canal that ended at a large pair of stone doors. Ganus spider-sense tingled and he searched for magical traps. He was rewarded with the discovery of a Glyph of Warding, which Aria promptly dispelled. Whiff!
After an elaborate foray into the chamber, Reyroris returned to warn the party that there were lizardfolk and a dangerous looking priest by an altar inside. The party formed a battle plan and went in. Executing their plan with efficiency, they moved into position, only to get half drowned in a tidal wave and pelted with an ice storm. A difficult battle ensued. With the arrival of two Crushing Wave Priests who quickly eliminated the magic user, Aria. With her spike growth dispelled, the lizardfolk were free to engage in melee. As were Reyroris, Telfid, and Taban. With spells raging around them, they battled the lizardfolk while Sytarii, Ganus and the unconscious (but stable) Aria were in the rear. Sytarii used Ildon’s crossbow to great effect and then ran in, only to be felled by a lizardman. Ganus put one of the now wounded priests to sleep, while the other faced off with Reyroris, who, ignoring the danger in front of him, cast his last spell and lobbed it at the head priest. This last-ditch effort was sufficient to kill the priest, who turned into a puddle and drained away, leaving behind a very nice trident.
Sytarii ventured a little further, through the open door the priests had entered by, finding their clean and organized bedchamber, but little else. Ganus, not wanting to get his robes wet, sent Splashy into the canal looking for interesting things. Sytarii followed suit and sent Bubbles the other way. Bubbles found nothing of interest, but Splashy found an underwater tunnel that led to a grotto. To heck with his robes, Ganus jumped in and had Splashy pull him through the tunnel to the grotto where he found a small hoard of treasure, including some coins, scrolls and the missing dwarvish library.
Out of spells, hurt and tired, the party settled in for a long rest to recover. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be. Their sleep was troubled by fitful dreams of the water cult and a Destruction Orb heading for Womford. The nightmares continue as the cultists explode the orb, causing torrential rain and a devastating flood that drowns or washes away the livestock and the citizens, and destroys many of the buildings. Even the Bargewright Inn is affected, suffering significant damage and losses in the flood. Nightmare visions of the Flying Hippogriff and many other boats being tossed to and fro as the river roils and rages through the docks harry their sleep. With clear images of lifeless bodies being washed into the river, the party awakens, not at all refreshed.
Alas, our tale pauses here, to be continued next week.
The business in Womford now has a contract with the Bargewright Inn to make trips upriver for supplies. This grosses 200gp per 5 days. Which covers the current cost of the upkeep of the Flying Hippogriff and its crew, and the guards in Riverguard Keep, with some 80gp remaining.
Elapsed time: 1 day.
| Character | XP | XP So Far | Level (To Advance) | Treasure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Ganus |
2080 | 11458 | 5 (14000) | Wand of Magic Missiles (attuned) ‘Splashy’ the Water Weird and BackPack Scroll of Tidalwave Scroll of Vitriolic Sphere |
Reyroris |
2080 | 12887 | 5 (14000) | 250 GP gold ruby ring +1 Longsword Potion of Giant Strength Weird Tank (Empty) |
| Sytarii | 2080 | 12070 | 5 14000) | +1 Dagger, “Reszur” Potion of Diminution Wand of Winter ‘Bubbles’ the Water Weird and BackPack |
| Taban | 2080 | 10661 | 5 (14000) | Drown (+1 Trident and more – see below) |
| Telfid | 2080 | 12367 | 5 (14000) | Scroll of Lesser Restoration Potion of Fire Resistance |
| Keeley | 0 | 6501 | 5 (14000) | N/A |
| Aria | 2080 | 12200 | 5 (14000) | N/A |
| Noctavia | 0 | 6110 | 4 (6500) | N/A |
| Nastane | 0 | 3942 | 4 (6500) | N/A |
| Nala | 0 | 4942 | 4 (6500) | N/A |
| Unassigned Treasure: Library of Dwarvish Tomes | ||||
Drown
A steel trident decorated with bronze barnacles along the upper part of its haft, Drown has a sea-green jewel just below the tines and a silver shell at the end of its haft. It floats on the surface if dropped onto water, and it floats in place if it is released underwater. The trident is always cool to the touch, and it is immune to any damage due to exposure to water. Drown contains a spark of Olhydra, the Princess of Evil Water.
You gain a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls you make with this magic weapon. When you hit with it, the targets takes an extra 1d8 cold damage.
Water Mastery. You gain the following benefits while you hold Drown:
- You can speak Aquan fluently.
- You have resistance to cold damage.
- You can cast dominate monster (save DC 17) on a Water Elemental. Once you have done so, Drown can’t be used this way again until the next dawn.
Tears of Endless Anguish. While inside a water node, you can perform a ritual called the Tears of Endless Anguish, using Drown to create a Devastation Orb of water (see the Devastation Orb description for the time and cost of the ritual). Once you perform the ritual, Drown can’t be used to perform the ritual again until the next dawn.
Flaw. Drown makes its wielder covetous. While attuned to the weapon, you gain the following flaw: “I demand and deserve the largest share of the spoils, and I refuse to part with anything that’s mine.” In addition, if you are attuned to Drown for 24 consecutive hours, barnacles form on your skin. The barnacles can be removed with a greater restoration spell or similar magic, but not while you are attuned to the weapon.
Paddling a pair of skiffs upriver, they were soon attacked by a tentacle of water (a water weird) that nearly had poor Ganus. Aria managed to get a rope to him though and, though it was a struggle, the water weird was defeated before it could drown Ganus too much.
They were greeted by Eyon, a Dark Knight who promptly leaped astride her battle shark and, lance in hand, charged the skiffs while some Crushing Wave Reavers attacked from shore and a Fathomer turned into a giant water snake to try to crush 
and drown the party members. This combat was short though, as Ganus told a really bad shark joke that Eyon found to be uproariously funny, nearly drowning as she fell from her shark’s back. The shark picked her up though, only to be knocked unconscious itself by Ganus next spell. This, unfortunately, turned out to drown the shark, and its mistress, in short order. Overall, the combat was short as this party knows very well how to deal with Water Cultists.
that had duplicated itself 3 times, some Reavers, and another Knight. Casting Spike Growth and Flaming Sphere into the room had the desired effect of making the enemies targets for the party’s ranged attacks, while the Knight came around the back way and ended up facing off against the more melee inclined party members. While the Reavers were easy pickings, the Shiver was a little harder to take down, and the Knight was actually a challenge. But the party emerged victorious.
The Ettin turned out to be a bit of a challenge, mostly due to its incredible stamina. However, it was soon defeated.
She is very angry at her cult.
The captain agreed to a fee of 10gp per day plus 15% of the proceeds. The adventurers assigned him the task of rummaging through Rivergard Keep and salvaging anything of value.
The bandits struck hard with crossbow quarrels flying everywhere. One of the wagons caught fire. Then the bandits took off, running into the trees and hills.
Grumsh, tried to be useful and failed. Meanwhile, Telfid called forth some Spirit Guardians and a Spiritual Weapon, and, contributing his own prodigious melee abilities, became a whirling cyclone of death and dismemberment, chewing through the perimeter of orcs like a scythe through wheat. After only a few minutes of slaughter, the defenders raised a loud cry of “Hurrah” as the last orc fell. While there were a few casualties in the ranch, the Dellmon family survived and there was much to celebrate. Several of the farmers and ranchers that had sought refuge had tales of narrowly escaping much smaller orc warbands as they overwhelmed defenses, killing or enslaving those within. Many a mug was raised in praise of the party and their contribution to the successful defense of the ranch.
Upon returning to Womford, they party was delighted to find that the Soaring Hippogriff had been busy. After expenses, they netted 825gp from the ransacking of the keep. Their fledgling shipping business was, so far, a success.
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