[written by Phil, player of Bartholomew, about the recent expedition to the sea-caves, earning Bart 100 xp per level]
From the Journals of Bartholomew Pettibone, of the House Pettibone
A Purveyor of Enchanting Sorcery
5 November 2021
Loose Ends Tied
I will try to keep this entry brief; I have much to do, and time may be running short. Since we liberated Bob from the clutches of an oppressive master, deep in the warren of tunnels known as the Ocean's Throat Caves, it has been our intention to return to that subterranean lair to eliminate the threat of further atrocities. With this in mind a veritable army of heroes was gathered at Cothon-Understar, and plans were discussed, re-hashed, modified, thrown out, and finally agreed upon. Our final company consisted of myself, Gan ad'Din (the Bearer of All Things), Hey-Jo of the ink stained hands, Sesel (Voice of the Survivors), Raoden the Wanderer, Dark Avin, Revna of the Light, Vlana the Bard, and our good friend Lord Althis of the Crag. Nine of us set forth along the Pallbearer Way, making our path around the Tel, and then down to the hidden opening to the sea caves.
Along our outward journey we found ourselves being stalked, and perhaps hunted, by a rather large serudla. Gan and Althis wished to enjoin the beast in open battle, slay it and find its lair (surely jam-packed with coin, gems, jewels, and fine items; however, we pressed upon them that our mission was otherwise. The serudla finally grew tired of trailing behind us, and noticing a more profitable course of action and easier prey, it began to lay waste to the slaves working among the Klackon fields. Sadness, but inevitable.
Once inside the caves we made our way quickly to the Green Doors. We found them closed once again, and after an intense search we were finally able to locate a hidden panel that allowed us to easily open those massive doors. In all prior adventures to this place we ultimately relied on physically prying the doors open (a difficult task). But now, thanks to Althis' keen eyes, the touchstones used for opening the doors had been found, used, and our entrance was undetected.
Once inside we began to make our way to Bob's pool-room, but were intercepted by a rather large force of guards: three of the small grey-men, accompanied by eight rather massive brutes clad in very protective green skins – and a ru'un. In fact, it was the very ru'un we had thought destroyed during our previous foray into thismadhouse! As we had a modicum of surprise, we let loose a barrage of psionic and magical attacks, and within moments the entire group was laid low and disposed of. The ru'un was initially deactivated by a special rod that Sesel has acquired. But as it settled to the ground, all of the lights on its countenance began to flash in a new pattern. Fearing that it was “healing” itself, Gan rushed forward and literally pounded the beast into scrap – Gan has a special distaste of these constructs. During the encounter we learned that arcane sleep had little effect on the brutes (greenies), and that their green skin was as tough as serudla hide! One of the greenies saw how easily it was for us to lay its fellows low, and it surrendered to us; however, we intended to take no prisoners, and ultimately dispatched the entire group to their “creator”.
We found Bob's pool-room empty, and began dragging the bodies into that enclosure for a more detailed investigation, and to hide our intrusion. Before much of anything could be learned, we were interrupted by a new group of intruders: two grey-men, a tall cloaked figure, and four additional greenies! Quick thinking by Althis had the entire group firmly incapacitated within a massive web of sticky material. A significant struggle ensued on their part, while Althis, Gan, Hey-Jo, Revna, and myself began to thoroughly douse the entrapped group with oil. There was going to be a conflagration – there HAD to be!
The cloaked figure was found to be a beautiful woman [Wadjet al Ahmedi, scr. note] who claimed to have been under the geas of some horrible “master”. Althis and Sesel took pity on her, and retrieved her from the webs, while the rest of her companions were lit on fire and pelted with arrows, sling-bullets, and cross-bow bolts. It took no time to dispatch them. All of the bodies were dragged into the pool-room, and while I searched through this chamber – noting several crates of tools, supplies, and what appeared to be diving suits – Althis began surgically removing the skins from the greenies, and Sesel questioned the young woman.
She continued to profess innocence and happiness from being rescued, claiming to be the daughter of one of the high Houses of Cothon. However, Sesel was not convinced and also conferred (mind-to-mind) with the grey-men, hoping to learn more. Indeed, it was difficult to tell, and while they corroborated some of her story, other parts seemed … well, wrong. As Althis was attempting to remove the tough skin of one of the greenies, he discovered that it was not actually their skin, but a skin-tight-fitting outer protective layer, much like armor. One final interesting bit of information that was inadvertently slipped to us by the grey-men was that a second vessel – perhaps a twin to Bob (?) – lay under the water close by! Hence the tools and suits being gathered at the edge of the pool. From what little information we could glean, it appears to be an inactive vessel, perhaps damaged and flooded. We also learned that a force of approximately thirty individuals were presently inhabiting and guarding this subterranean complex. As we had incapacitated close to twenty, we realized that our work was not nearly complete.
From the pool-room we entered into a laboratory, or specimen room, containing numerous large, water-filled glass containers, many of which housed various sentient beings. All of the beings captured and ensconced within those chambers plead with us to release them back into the ocean. None of them appeared hostile, and we assured them that as soon as the complex was secured, we would return to release them.
From the laboratory we entered what appeared to be a massive forge/workroom – a place Durham would find enthralling! It was loud there, and we easily surprised three of the greenies working diligently at the forge. Apparently they were forming xortrium or zentronium ingots into large metal plates. Our assumption is that these were going to be used to repair or modify the additional vessel that lay under the water. These three brutes were again easily dispatched, and we began to feel rather cocksure about ourselves. And of course, that is usually when any plan unravels – to utter horrors.
Realizing that only a few rooms were left to investigate, we pushed on. A matter-translation pad was located in one room. It consisted of six pads and a control plinth, and in appearance it was very similar to the one found deep inside the Tel, which was currently enveloped by some energy-sucking plant. Raoden was set to work immediately to disable this platform – we did not wish to have reinforcements suddenly appearing behind us, or within our midst!
A guard room was located, and the two greenies within were hurriedly pummeled into submission. Sesel used the power of his mind to see into the room beyond. It was discovered to be a sort of barracks, containing two brutes asleep on cots, five more all seated calmly around some small obelisk with blinking, multicolored lights, and a fully functioning ru-un hovering nearby! A plan was formed, and the door was thrown open. Sesel leveled his rod at the ru'un, and it ceased to operate. The two sleeping greenies were not currently wrapped in their protective outer skins (in fact none of the greenies were), and were quite easily dispatched. Oddly, the ones seated around the obelisk seemed unaware of us. As we approached the seated brutes, and the deactivated ru'un, the lights and sounds of the obelisk worked its way into our minds and enthralled several of us. At the same time, the lights on the ru'un began to flash and blink in rapid patterns – it was reactivating itself! Althis again came to the rescue and was able to cast a pall of silence. This allowed us to gain access to the obelisk and the ru'un. Before the ru'un could restart, Gan, Avin, and I were able to locate its power cell and remove it, while others dispatched the remaining greenies, and deactivated the obelisk.
And like that, the force occupying this cavernous complex had been laid low, and we were in control. Or so we hoped. There were no other signs of danger, and we began to tidy the place up. Lord Althis took the young woman under his protection, and returned with her to his holding at the Crag. Gan and I returned to Bob, and guided the vessel back into its original location, here in the caverns. The rest of our merry companions remained in the complex and began the tedious task of inventorying and storing the materials found in the forge, the lab, the pool-room, and the guard barracks. With much luck and good fortune we had come through the entire expedition with barely a scratch upon any of us. Now it was time to secure the complex for our personal use.
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