Session 9 - The Claws of the Lioness, The Demon Waters, Part 5

Dramatis Personae:

• The Paladin of St. Faruin - Alsuna of Vlamesht, Bulwark and Vanguard - Played by Sophia
• The Elven Spellsword - Braem the Burning, Arcanist-Guardian and Flametongue - Played by Ben
• The Mage - Timlaras "Tim" of Aesta-Suvash, Thaumaturge and Necromancer - Played by Scott
• The Henchman and Fighter - Džim of Aesta-Suvash, Warrior - Played by Scott
• The Henchman and Thief - Arana of Aesta-Suvash, Hood - Played by Scott
• The Dwarven Craftpriest - Moriana of Beasthold, Dwarven Craft-catechist and Reliquary Guardian - Played by Andrea
• The Mage - Tuvalt the Clumsy of Vlam-Kuzang, Arcanist and Warmage - Played by Chris
• The Cleric of St. Faruin - Jorsau of Vlamesht, Catechist - Played by PJ

When last we left our heroes... Our companions spent some time attempting to examine the pump array (including casting Dispel Magic on it), before ultimately deciding to leave it as it was and pressing on. Timlaras used his Ring of Tixelzintran the All-Seeing [a Ring of X-Ray Vision] on the door to the north, revealing half a dozen beastmen (gnolls and orcs) along with a trio of multi-armed fish-men standing around an altar in the middle of a large room. Tied to the altar was the writhing body of a young woman. 

The party made their preparations -- Timlaras first took twenty minutes to go back and raise two of the Morlocks as zombie servants -- and then kicked the door in. The two zombies fell almost immediately, but they bought precious time for the party to get in through the door without taking a gnoll arrow to the face. Alsuna ran forward and rescued the woman on the altar -- Jorsau, a cleric, and as it turned out, one of Alsuna's childhood friends. Even so, the tide of battle seemed to be turning against the heroes, with Timlaras and Tuvalt locked in a battle of spells with the fish-man shaman. At that moment, Džim and Arana (who had been hanging back) charged in, coming to the aid of the master.

As the tide of battle turned, Timlaras lobbed a fireball into the room, immolating three of the beastmen, while the rest of the party focused their arrows and weapons on the fish-folk warriors charging through the door. It was at this point that Džim, trying to protect his employer, was gravely injured. Timlaras told him not to worry because "if you die, Džim, I can always just raise your corpse." Then, as Timlaras noted, "I won't have to pay you anymore." Džim, already wavering in the face of these strange abominations from the Deep, lost his resolve at this threat of zombification from his employer, and turned and ran. 

As the battle raged on, Alsuna and Jorsau got clear of the altar, and Timlaras ended the battle of spells with another fireball from his wand, which slew the shaman and his gnoll guards. The final two fish-men warriors were cut down, and the remaining companions found themselves masters of the chamber. The cost had been heavy: Džim's morale had been shattered, and he had run; Arana was gravely injured, her right hand forever maimed; and Tuvalt the Clumsy had been slain by one of the fish-folk warriors. 

Speaking with Jorsau, the companions learned that she had been part of a small group of pilgrims which had been travelling on the road to Aesta-Suvash when they were waylaid by beastmen and brought to the temple. This was four days ago. Since then, each of her companions in turn had been sacrificed on the low stone altar, tied to it until the chamber flooded and they were drowned. A few of her companions had suffered a different fate, taken away through the door to the southwest, never to be seen again. While Jorsau got her gear and clothes back on, Timlaras used his ring to gaze through the southwest door. What he saw frightened him, powerful wizard that he was: 

The door led to a stairway leading down, deeper into the dungeon. There, standing in a pool of water, were a dozen or more beastmen, all of them infected with the strange vegetal growth that had plagued the "gombie zoblins." In their midst were half a dozen of the fish-folk, levitating and chanting around a sacrifice on another low stone altar. At that moment, the floor of the chamber occupied by the companions began to fill with water. Timlaras turned back to his companions: "We need to run." 

Monsters killed:

• 4 Orcs
• 2 Gnolls
• 1 Kuo-toa Priest
• 2 Kuo-Toa Warriors

Player Characters Killed:

• The Mage - Tuvalt the Clumsy of Vlam-Kuzang, Arcanist and Warmage - Played by Chris