Episode 13

"To the Sunless Sea"
(c) Matt Grossman and J. Sage Schreiner

Tron Malkaszar, an irreverant elf -- Matt Grossman
Norel Bolderdash, hulking woodsman of the Adri forest -- Tom Morin
Nigil Palom, noble from a far-distant land -- Kevin Osborn
Aran, a beefy (ex-)Paladin from Tenh -- AJ Drexel
Vuz, an engimatic druid -- Corey Paganucci
Rhahid, a mysterious spell-crafter -- Eric Kruller 
All others -- Sage Schreiner

After leaving the lair of the troglodytes, the party rests in the
corridor for a while, then moves on.  They soon come to a "T"
intersection, and go left.  After a while, they pass a branch to the
right.

Tron: I hear running water from ahead.

They go towards the water, and find that the passage ends in the side
of a great cliff above an underground river, presumably the same one
that flowed past the troglodyte's cave.  The river is too wide for
them to see across.  They go back and head down the side passage they
noticed earlier, emerging into a vast cave, hundreds of feet across.
The party follows the wall around to the right, after marking the
passage they entered by so as not to get disoriented.

Tron: Wait!  There's some sort of strange snake-like creatures ahead.
They're coming from that pile of rock... [twang twang]
Roper: (lashes its tentacles at the party, grabbing Norel and Nigil)
Nigil: I feel... weak...

The party attacks the tentacles, since the main monster is some forty
feet away.

Tella: Die! [squish]
Aran: At last!  A foe! [hack]
Norel: [hack chop]
Rhahid: (tries to throw a torch forwards to illuminate the monster,
but sends it flying wildly into the darkness) I, uhh, meant to do
that.
Tron: Hmm... I'll just back out of range of the tentacles and feather
this thing with arrows...

He backs away... straight into the grasp of a second roper.

Roper#2: (grabs Tron)
Tron: [weakened] Not again!
Norel: Tron's in trouble!
Rhahid: (casts magic missile at Roper#2) Well, you guys can finish him
off now.

Vuz, Nigil, and Aran stay to fight the first roper, while the rest of
the party goes to help Tron.  The monsters' tentacles not only grapple
their prey, but also drain their strength.

Skanda: (hit by many tentacles, she falls to the ground, unable to
carry the weight of her armor)
Roper#2: [bites out a great hunk of Tron's shoulder]
Tron: Why... does... this... always... happen... to... me... urk. (falls
unconscious)
Tella: Put the elf down! (weakened, she staggers)
Norel: I'll save you! [swish] Or maybe not.

Aran: Hieroneous curse this thing!  I can barely lift my sword!
Nigil: My strokes are not as heavy as they should be.

Roper#2: (tosses Tron's unconscious body aside and gropes for new
prey)
Tella: Get off me, you horrible thing!
Vuz: (runs over and heals Tron)
Tron: Now it's my turn! (backstabs the roper)
Tella: And stay down! [thwack]
Roper#2: [splut]

Meanwhile, Vuz rushes back to help Aran and Nigil.

Nigil: It's got me! Ow!
Vuz: Hold on!
Aran: Gnyarr! [cleave]
Roper#1: Urk. [thud]

The weakness eventually fades, and Skanda and Vuz are able to heal
some of the party's damage.  Still, all of them except Rhahid had been
badly wounded.

Rhahid: It's good thing you had me there, guarding the rear.

Tron cuts open the roper carcasses and finds some gems and platinum.

Tron: And, uhh, there was this silver and copper too. (returns the
treasure he pocketed in the spider's lair)
Skanda: Pholtus is pleased.
Tron: Huh? What?

The party goes back to the cliff face and rests for a day. Aran has a
strange dream while resting. In it, he feels like he's drowning. Burning
salt water sears his lungs. Then he sees large, pale eyes that search
the darkness in fear. The eyes become dull, and a dark, cloaked figure
is revealed.

Norel: Why don't you do any healing, Aran?  We know you can heal.
Aran: Because of my weakness in falling under the curse of the cup and
allowing Griff to die, I am no longer a chosen one of Hieroneous.  He
has withdrawn his powers from me, and I will not regain his favor
until I perform some quest.
Tella: Well, you still have your good looks. [wink wink wink]

Tron: You know guys, we should really be saving our dung and drying it
so that we can burn it later.
Rest of the party: ...
Tron: Well, it's an idea.
Rhahid: I do not touch the filth of animals. It is... unclean.

Although all of the party is wounded, they decide to press on in the
hope of getting out of the caves.  As they prepare to leave, they hear
great drums beating in the distance.

Tron: Drums, drums in the deep!
Vuz: They are coming!
Nigil: Sure guys.

They go back to the roper cavern and find only one exit, a passage
opposite the one they entered by.  They follow it for about an hour,
wandering further into a maze of tunnels.  They find one passage that
opens onto the river, in the middle of a waterfall.

Aran: Hmm... I'd say that we're upstream from the troglodytes, which
means we're probably closer to the surface.
Tella: Uhhhh... weren't the Troglodytes THAT way? Doesn't that mean
we're deeper?

Another passage leads onto a beach along the river, downstream from
the falls.  They find a timber, such as might be used to prop up a
tunnel.

Tron: That's an encouraging sign.
Vuz: I wish we had a dwarf with us.
Tella: Hey, there's a fish dude in the river!  Oh, it's gone now.
Rhahid: I bet those are the fish creatures that kidnapped me!
Tron: Let's grab the wood and leave.
Aran: No, we should stay and talk to them.  I bet they could tell us
how to get out.

After a couple minutes, fifteen fish men surface in the river.

Aran: Greetings, fishy friends!  We come in peace, and...
Fishmen: (charge up on shore and attack the party)
Aran: Try to take one alive!

Three of the largest fishmen hang back and hurl harpoons into the
party.

Tron: (harpooned and stunned) Again?
Vuz: (harpooned and stunned) Ow.
Norel: (harpooned and stunned) I can't believe this is happening to
me.

The rest of the fishmen charge the party and break through their
lines.

Tella: Gnyarr! [bash]
Skanda: (finds herself facing five fishmen) Uh-oh.
Nigil: Taste steel, monster! [hack]
Rhahid: Stand back, or I'll... uh... hit you with my staff! [poke poke]

Tron is quickly clubbed to the ground by the fishmen, who continue to
beat him after he is down.

Aran: Stop hitting that elf! [cleave]

The fishman trying to pull Norel into the water meets with a rude
surprise as the ranger regains his senses.

Norel: Get over here! (grabs hold of the rope and pulls the fishman
into range)
Fishman: Whoa!
Norel: [cleave] That settles that.  Hey, where's Vuz?

The half-elf has been dragged into the water.

Vuz: Blub blub... must cut rope...

Keeping a desperate grip on his scimitar, the druid cuts through the
rope and flounders to shore, just in time to cast a healing spell to
stop Tron's bleeding.

Vuz: Maybe I should make him convert to _my_ goddess... nah.

Seeing that the party is stronger than they thought, the fishmen
turn to flee.

Aran: Never turn your back in a fight! [slay]
Tella: Yeah! [bonk]
Nigil: (stuns a fishman with the flat of his sword) Hey, where's the
mage?
Rhahid: (lies on the ground bleeding) The horror... the horror... melee
combat... oooh...

The surviving fishmen disappear into the river.

Norel: Probably to get reinforcements.
Tron: "Let's stay and talk to them, maybe they'll help us".  What a
great idea.
Aran: Humph.
Nigil: Hey, we have a prisoner.
Rhahid: I'm sure he will be reasonable.

The party makes camp by the waterfall, confident that no enemy could
reach them from the river.  All of them are badly wounded, and they
camp for about two days.  They are running low on torches, and
therefore for long periods Tron and Vuz keep watch in absolute
darkness, trusting to their elven infravision to warn them of any
approaching monsters.

Tron: Though those roper things didn't show up very well on
infravision.
Nigil: (lights splints of wood from torch stubs and stares into the
flames)
Vuz: We've got to get out of here.
Tella: There are those drums again.  They sound louder this time.

Aran has two more dreams, his second and third. The second dream is
only of a small, pale child, dead, eyes sunk deep into its skull, a
fine line of blood trickling from its mouth.

The third dream is of pale-skinned people kissing the feet of a robed
figure, worshipping it. The people are spiritually lost. The dreams shifts;
the same people are hiding in the darkness, waiting to ambush some
unknow enemy. They attack singly, when able to muster the nerve, dashing
out to throw a rock and then running in fear into the darkness.

When the prisoner has regained consciousness, they question him.  It
turns out that he speaks goblin, and so Tron and Aran, who speak
orcish, are able to communicate with him, after a fashion.

Fishman: (in goblin) Me Blurblurb, sent by king Splugoosh. He order to probe
you.  We hear of you from lizard man.  Hear you mighty warriors.  We
want to probe you, find out truth of strength.

Blurblurb seems to call his people "Flun", and he also speaks of slaves to the fishmen, but the details are unclear.

Tron: (in orcish) Do know the way out?

Blurblurb: No.  You are from sun-place, yes?  Me see
other with flesh, like you.  Short ones with hair on face.

Aran: He must mean dwarves.
Nigil: I bet they would know the way out.

Tron: (in orcish) Where did you see these dwarves?
Blurblurb: Hmm... one part of three sleeps away.  Me show you.

Tron: What's he talking about?
Aran: I think he means one third of a day, about eight hours.
Tella: Yeah, Tron, they're called "fractions".
Tron: Bite me.

Blurblurb tells them that there is a goblin kingdom about a week's
travel upriver, and two goblin tribes ("Red Eye" and "Infected Cyst"
are fighting nearby. He does not know of any mines, or any way out.
The river runs into a sea about a day's travel downstream, but it is 
not above ground.

Tron: I'm confused by his geography.  I've heard tales of an
underground sea, but we can't be that far down.
Vuz: We need to meet up with these dwarves.
Tella: Hmm...from what I remember, there were a lot of cliffs along
that coast.
Rhahid: That's right!  There might be a cave that hooked up to the sea
through an underground passage.  That way there could be an
underground sea, that was at sea level, if you see what I mean.  Heh.

Blurblurb: You mighty warriors.  Splugoosh want meet with you.  Maybe
he know way to sun-place.
Aran: (in orcish) We want to get to the surface.  Take us to where you
saw these dwarves.  If we can't find them, we will return to your
land.
Blurblurb: Ok.

After resting for about two days, they set out.  The fighters are
still injured, but the rest of the party has healed.  Blurblurb leads
them deep into the dungeon, through a maze of twisty passages, all
different.

Vuz: It looks like something burst through the wall here.
Aran: (in orcish) Are there any monsters around?
Blurblurb: Near here very bad things.  We go around.

They finally come to a "T" intersection.  There are some runes hastily
scratched in the wall, but none of the party can read them.

Norel: It looks like several humanoids passed through here, heading to
the left.
Aran: (in orcish) Blurblurb, you may go now.
Blurblurb: (looks surprised, as it was expecting to be killed)
Tron: (reaches for his sword)
Nigil: Bad Tron!  No!  Think of what your god would say!
Skanda: (smiles)
Blurblurb: (flees back the way it came)

They follow the trail of the creatures, which they assume to be
dwarves.  Soon they come to another intersection.

Norel: It looks like they went right.  Hmm, and a whole bunch of
goblins were following them.  Maybe sixty or seventy.
Aran: Well, maybe the dwarves were heading for the surface, or their
own caves.

They continue, and come to a place where the passage narrows.  Here
they find signs of a struggle; blood and marks of bodies being dragged
away.

Vuz: Hey, there's something in this crevice.  It's a body!

Sure enough, there is the body of a gnome.

Norel: It looks like two or three of the gnomes stood at this place
and held off the goblins for a while, while their companions escaped.
This one must have been wounded, and crawled into the crevice where he
bled to death.
Rhahid: Hmm... his sword and crossbow are magical.  Also, he has this
fascinating scrying device. (puts a surveyor's telescope to his eye) I
shall have to study this more.
Nigil: Don't loot the dead!
Aran: Agreed.  We shall bring his body and possessions with us.  We
may have a chance to return them to his kin.
Tron: Anyway, I already have a magic shortsword.

Tella straps the gnome's body to her backpack and they follow the
trail of the fleeing gnomes.  It looks like the goblins soon caught
up to them, and continued down the passage in the same direction the
gnomes had been going.

Rhahid: Does anyone but me think this is a bad idea?
Tron: Do you have any better ones?

They can hear the beat of drums getting louder as they advance, and it
seems likely that they are headed for the goblin base.  Suddenly, a
monster bursts through the wall of the tunnel!

Umber Hulk: (looks at the party) Raargh!
Nigil: (driven mad by its gaze, he stands confused)
Norel: (confused)
Tella: (confused)
Skanda: Pholtus, guard your servant from evil!
Aran: By Hieroneous, monster, your look holds no terror for me!
Vuz: (confused)
Rhahid: (confused)
Tron: What's going on back there? (he turns, looks into the monster's
eyes, and is confused) Bibble.

The monster rends at Skanda, who staggers back.

Aran: Pick on somebody your own size! [hack]
Tron: Monsters!  They're everywhere! (backstabs Skanda in his madness)
Skanda: Urk. [thud]
Tella: (strikes the monster in her madness) I hate mosquitos! [bonk]
Norel: (still confused) Quickly, we must escape the mines!  The orcs
will be back soon! (runs down the tunnel)
Vuz: Ah, the trees of the forest look so green at this time of
year. (wanders off)
Rhahid: Ah, thank you professor.  Of course I am going to
class. (wanders off)
Tella: (confused) I'm not a womble, am I mommy?
Tron: Die, orc! (stabs Tella)
Tella: [thud]
Nigil: Careful, Tron!  There's one near you! (stabs Tron)
Nigil: (briefly recovers sanity) Uh-oh.  Err... someone stabbed Tella!

Meanwhile Aran continues to fight the monster.

Umber Hulk: (claws Aran) Arrooogh!
Aran: Ow!  That hurt me, but not as much as this will hurt you!
[cleave]
Tron: Look at the size of that orc! (stabs umber hulk)
Umber Hulk: (flees down the tunnel it dug)
Aran: Come back here and die like the dog you are! (gives chase)

Tron: Hey, someone killed Skanda!  No, wait, she's still alive.  Now
how does that bandaging thing work...
Nigil: I think it's like this... there, she's not bleeding anymore.
I'll bandage Tella, you go find Aran.

Aran: (chases umber hulk)
Umber Hulk: (flees)
Aran: (chases)
Umber Hulk: (suddenly turns and swats the warrior to the ground, then
keeps running)

Tron: Aran, where are you? [trip] Oh, there you are.  Let's see, the
rabbit goes through the tree and, umm... well, either I bandaged him
right or he's dead.  Nope, still breathing.

Eventually the party is reunited.  Aran, Skanda, and Tella are badly
injured.

Norel: We need to find a place where we can rest up until we are all
completely healed.
Nigil: Then we can find another monster to almost kill us.

They continue down the tunnel.  At one point they find the body of a
goblin, clearly the victim of an umber hulk.  The tunnel ends in a
gigantic cavern, far too vast for their torches to show the ceiling or walls.

Norel: The goblin tracks head to the left... say, do you smell the sea.
Vuz: Yes, I think we must have reached that underground sea the
fishman was talking about.

The floor of the cavern is covered with a few inches of sand.  In the
distance they can hear water lapping on the shore.  They head about one
hundred yards into the cave, then collapse to the ground.  They do not
light a fire, but Tron strings some warning traps around the camp.
Then they sleep.

They spend what seems like several days encamped in the cave, slowly
recovering their strength.  Even with Vuz and Skanda's magical healing
powers, it takes a long time for the party to fully heal their wounds.
Fortunately, Skanda is able to use her magic to provide the party with
food and water, since their own stocks of food are almost exhausted.
In the distance they often hear the beating of huge drums, and several
times they see a flash of dim light in the distance.

Aran: Could that be the light of dawn, shining through a low cave
mouth?
Rhahid: I don't think so.  It seems to occur more frequently than
light should.  Plus, if the entrance to this cavern was near the
surface, then sunlight would illuminate the waters in that area.  I
think that this cavern must connect to the ocean by means of a passage
deep under the waters.

Aran dreams again. His dream is of the same people of his earlier dreams
standing together, bronze shield against bronze shield, moving and fight
as one, bravely confronting their enemies.

Another sleeping period passes, and Aran drams once more. Now the people
are worshipping a mailed fist that clenches a flashing sword, mid-blade,
or it could be a lightining bolt.

Tron goes scouting to the water's edge and finds the footprints of
bare human feet.  He travels along the shore for several miles, but
finds no other signs of life.

Aran: Truly, we have entered a realm of darkness.
Nigil: I hope Jola is ok.
Tron: And our money that we left with her.

After what feels like several days, they hear a heavy splash, like
something falling into the ocean.  A while later, they hear sounds of
movement near the corridor they entered the cave by.  Tron sneaks off
to investigate.  He sees a huge creature, apparently wounded, heading
towards the corridor.

Tron: Freeze!
Monster: (looks at him, then turns and limps faster)
Tron: Hey!  Stop or I'll shoot!
Monster: (keeps going)

Vuz: (listening at the campsite) I feel a Tron moment coming on...

Tron: Fine!  You asked for it! [twang twang]
Monster: Urk. [thud]

Tron inspects the dead creature more closely.  It seems to have been
some type of huge humanoid, that had been mauled or injured by
something.  Tron returns to the party.

Tron: It attacked me when I asked it about Knobby Foot.  Why are you
looking at me like that?  What did I do?
Nigil: Anyway... we had better be going.
Tella: The drums are beating again. And they're much louder.

TO BE CONTINUED...