24: Closing the Portals

 

Another night passed underground, next to a stone sarcophagus in the crypt of an ancient dwarven hero. The hallowed ground ensured the group's safety, keeping scrying eyes and evil creatures at bay. After the previous evening's celebrations, Vinthanamel was starting to feel much more connected to the group, though it wasn't entirely due to that evening; the connection between them had been made some time before, by forces much larger than any of them could imagine. Rather oddly, however, Joe was missing this morning, though he'd left a message behind telling them, "I'll be back," so that was enough for them.

After breakfast and some initial preparations, the group decided that, as they now held the Prophet of Water's trident, they would head further down into the section immersed in water. This was no doubt where the elemental node could be found, and it was only a short distance away through the fungal swamp. Along the way, Bessok received a Sending from the Cleric back at Red Larch, telling him that Laeral Silverhand had refused the council's decision and sent guards, builders, and supplies to Red Larch. Things were looking up for the devastated town.

Map of the Plunging Torrents

Making their way down the stairs towards the water, they could see a flat boat tied to a post at the end of the steps (P1). A little further and something much more interesting caught their eye: a globe of water floating above the pool's surface. While Bessok looked over the boat, his mind was suddenly hit with a vision of an underwater temple to a strange, tentacled creature. Unsure what it was or where it came from, he shook it off and warned the others, but Morthwyl had her own ideas and poked her finger into the floating globe of water. Immediately it shifted position to engulf her, though it wasn't offensive; it simply lifted her upwards and started carrying her towards the north-easterly tunnel. Even inside the water, she found she could still breathe. No doubt much more entertaining than a boat, the others quickly flew over to catch up and joined her inside the water globe.

An Ice Mephit

The globe of water carried them through winding tunnels, momentarily passing through a wider area before floating over the top of a waterfall and down to a larger location (P12). This one caught their eye as it had an island bristling with stalagmites off to one side, a large drum in the middle of it, as well as a corpse floating face down in the water. Bessok popped out of the globe and flew over to take a look, using his medical knowledge to determine that the corpse had been clawed to death by something. A check over the drum, which didn't seem to have much of a purpose that they could see, and they returned to the slow-flying globe of water before it got too far. As they started to wind their way through another tunnel, however, they could hear the cackling of small creatures up ahead, as well as feel a drop in the temperature here.

A One-Eyed Shiver

Scouting carefully ahead, they witnessed a frost-filled cave covered with icicles and water crystals (P14). A familiar type of cultist was standing in the middle of a central island, a one-eyed shiver, surrounded by cackling, dancing ice mephits. Wanting to deal with this quickly before the rest of the area was alerted, Morthwyl rushed off ahead to show off her martial prowess. Her steps took her to the first two mephits; one exploded in shards of ice as her hammer struck it, the other facing the same fate a blink of an eye later. Her hammer then left her hand, thrown into a more distant mephit who also exploded into icy shards. Not even breaking a sweat, she rushed forward and more of the little mephits exploded around her, Bessok finally catching up to assist with the more powerful shiver.

As the final body hit the floor, Morthwyl took a moment to catch her breath and looked around, realizing that corpses were frozen to the walls of the cave, one of which used to be a part of her previous adventuring party, an elven wizard. That was the last of them; none of her previous group were left alive, a fate she certainly wasn't going to be facing.

Searching the area uncovered no treasures, so Bessok checked underwater to see if anything was hidden there and indeed there was—not treasure, but an underwater tunnel into another room. He resurfaced to let everyone know and they all followed him through the tunnel and into another cave (P15). Here, they found a throne made of coral and seashells in the middle of a small island, a gem-encrusted narwhal horn resting across the arms. With the surface of the water being oddly reflective compared to the other areas, Bessok decided to check for magic and found both the horn and the water were charged with powerful divination magic.

Not sure what to do about it, for now he placed the horn into his backpack and dived back into the water, having seen what looked like a secret doorway beneath the waves. As soon as the horn touched the water, however, the entire pool shimmered and changed to show an image of a distant location inside the complex. Curious! Waving Bessok back to him, Vinthanamel spent a few minutes casting a ritual so he could understand how the magical horn actually worked. It allowed them to view any part of this entire complex just by concentrating on it. The perfect way to scout the area without facing any risk!

A Kuo-Toa

And so they did exactly that. As they didn't know the area and couldn't declare a location, they moved the viewing location a little at a time, from cave to tunnel to cave. In their search, they found a temple to a strange deity, worshipped by the many Kuo-Toa that protected the site, a circling of sailing ships that had somehow ended up this far underground, a many-headed hydra resting between the wrecks and, of course, the water node itself. As the Kuo-Toa were no real threat and they could easily complete their mission without interacting with them, Vinthanamel suggested they avoid them completely; there was no need to strike down the poor creatures. Bessok stumbled over his words trying to reply to that; this elven wizard was a much better person than Gark used to be, that's for sure.

Now with the target in their sights, the group swam back through the tunnel, heading south to where a crude stone hut was built upon a small island (P16). Rushing forward, two cultists leapt into the water and rose up again on the back of a pair of water elementals. As nice as that looked, the fight was over in seconds, with the group working in perfect synchronicity to bring down their targets, so much so it didn't even slow their advance. Across to the waterfall and they scanned the water ahead to the location that held the gateway to the elemental plane of water (P20).

At the centre of this huge cavern was a large island, a gigantic, shimmering globe of water floating above it. Smaller globes of water would emerge from it and float around the cave before coming to rest a few feet above the surface of the lake. Looking around, Bessok spotted the shadowy outlines of creatures beneath the water, on the opposite side of the lake, though now the group had arrived, the shadows were in motion, moving forward at speed to intercept the new arrivals.

A Chuul

Putting their hopes in Morthwyl, Bessok blessed her weapons while Vinthanamel hastened her actions, and so, buzzing with power, she rushed out to meet the incoming creatures. Her hammer was thrown again and again; Bessok pulled stars from his robe and threw them out to assist, missiles of magical starlight disappearing beneath the surface of the water to impact against the creatures. One was dead before it even reached the group, its body floating to the surface. A second rose with the dead and leapt at Morthwyl, Chuul claws snapping in an attempt to slice her in half. But with her hastened actions, it was as if the creatures were moving in slow motion; a shift of her head to the side and she watched as the claws snapped next to her, then she brought her hammer down repeatedly on the exposed claw. Like a lobster being prepared for lunch, the claw cracked, the meaty interior revealed and pulverized. A second creature was down.

An Aboleth

This left only the leader of this complex, now the Prophet was gone, an Aboleth rising up out of the water and lashing its tentacles at the dwarven fighter. Even with its centuries of life, it didn't have the skill to land a blow, and so it resorted to another plan. It probed inside her head, found a weak spot and twisted, taking control and forcing the dwarf to turn on her friends. She had no choice; Morthwyl turned and rushed toward Bessok, throwing her hammer out at him repeatedly. Lucky for him, her aim wasn't as good this time, only one hit striking true but with enough power to knock the wind out of him. It was obvious she was under control, and so he reached out and restored her mind to normal, wresting the powerful Aboleth's control away.

The creature thrashed angrily beneath the water and turned its attacks on Bessok, tail and tentacles flailing at him, but before it could land a blow, Morthwyl came flying in for her revenge, throwing her hammer again and again with perfect precision, then finding a second wind to do it all over again. The Aboleth was thrown backwards with each hit and into the wall of the cavern, battered again and again until the life finally left it.

Portal to the Plane of Water

With nothing left to stop them, Morthwyl gathered the trident from Bessok and flew over to the centre of the massive cavern and the gigantic globe of water hovering in place. With a perfect throw, the trident pierced the bubble and it promptly popped; the globes of water floating around the cavern also collapsing, their water rushing into the lake. There was no dramatic flash of light, no explosions, though the area did feel more comfortable now, less oppressive and unwelcoming. It was now nothing more than an underground water complex. The trident, now rusted and cracked as if it had been underwater for centuries, clattered noisily to the ground on the stone island, where the group decided to leave it.

The portal closed, the group were off again, heading north this time to—hopefully—claim some treasure from some pirate ships. This was a strange location (P18): heavy rain battered the gigantic cavern, the rain falling so hard it was difficult to see properly. And then there were the three full-size sailing galleys lying on their sides—how did they get here? It was a question Bessok pondered as he moved through the cavern toward the boats, but he also had another thing on his mind—the Hydra.

A Hydra

As the group rounded a section of one of the sailing ships, the Hydra came into view. It was much larger than it appeared through the scrying pool, but that didn't stop Morthwyl rushing headlong into the massive beast. Her hammers struck true, smashing skulls and damaging hide, but as one head fell limp, two more grew from it. This could be dangerous. And so Vinthanamel quickly flipped through the pages of his wizard tome and picked the perfect spell, words spoken in an arcane tongue—oddly musical—a few gestures as if composing a masterpiece, and the massive Hydra started to dance!

Its heads bopped happily, its legs shuffled, and it grunted as if enjoying itself. Trying to shake its feeble mind free of this enchantment, the Hydra gave up all attempts at attacking, and it was mere moments before each of the nine heads were splattered into the ground. The Hydra gave one more little jig before life finally left it.

Even Bessok had to admit that was pretty funny. He was certainly taking a liking to his new companion, even if he was an Elf! Searching through the wreckage uncovered a treasure chest of goodies, and then it was on through the caverns, carefully avoiding any remaining enemies, and back into the Fane of the Eye and the sanctuary of the dwarven tomb.

Another celebratory drink and then it was time for rest, though Bessok awoke early the next morning to quickly teleport back to Waterdeep to gather some supplies. Recalling himself to the tomb, he summoned a heroes' feast for the three of them, and then it was time to take on the next cult: the Earth cult. They were due some payback for what they did to Red Larch.

Map of the Black Geode

Descending the tunnel into the Black Geode was like entering another world. The caves and tunnels were oddly shaped, with large purple crystals protruding from the walls at odd angles. The entire area was constantly shaking, and even as they found the tunnel straightening up, the roof above them collapsed, Morthwyl narrowly avoiding being crushed by the falling rock. A little further and the tunnel widened into a larger cavern (G1) with two large, crude statues of a humanoid creature, two earth cult guards in front of them, watching the entrance. As the group stepped into sight, the guards stepped forward, though that's all they got to do. Vinthanamel raised a hand and dominated both their minds with some quiet words and gestures. "Where is the Prophet?" he asked them mentally; the guards eagerly pointed onwards down the corridor, even asking if he wanted an escort. Instead, he turned them against each other, causing them to fight. Immediately, two large earth elementals rose from the ground and joined the fight, smashing the guards into the earth that they were so eager to worship. Weird glowing purple eyes glared at the group ahead of them, but sensing no violence, the elementals sunk back into the ground and disappeared. "I had nothing to do with the elementals!" Vinthanamel ensured the others, suddenly having a pang of guilt.

A Nothic

With the area clear, Vinthanamel suggested they all take a moment so he could scout the area ahead. With another quick look at his wizard's tome, he summoned an invisible eye that he could see through and sent it off through the caverns, finding a safe path for the group to use. The eye travelled into the next cave (G2) where a Xorn and another cultist stood, the cultist feeding the Xorn with jewels. Onwards to where a shower of mud was cascading from the ceiling and creating a river that escaped into a narrow tunnel (G6), then into a room full of glowing crystals (G4), and back around to a bridge crossing a huge cavern (G9). Over the bridge and a little to the west (G12), cultists were kneeling in prayer, so he continued northwards (G13) to stables that held young Bulette, no doubt preparing them for training. Very likely the home of the trainer (G14) was in a connected room, then it was back around and east to what looked like an odd smithing room (G15). Here, a Dwarf worked at a well of boiling mud, smithing weapons, tools and armour. About to continue, Vinthanamel spotted a few Nothic cowering in the corners, creatures he knew would be able to see the eye, and so he retreated as quickly as he entered.

Northwards this time, he passed through a cavern with six natural stone columns extending from floor to ceiling (G16). The only other exit was east, which led him to the target, a colossal cavern with weirdly twisting columns and gargantuan shards of glowing crystal. Gargoyles clung to the columns, a pair of earth cult guards stood at the far end of the cavern, either side of a cloaked and hooded man with his arm raised, clutching a finely crafted war pick in hand. A few feet further, at the top of a flight of stairs, a huge stone monolith constantly changed shape before him.

A Xorn

"I've found him," Vinthanamel declared as he cancelled the eye and returned his attention to the group. Now it was just a case of getting there. Into the next room they moved, Morthwyl charging ahead to engage the Xorn and cultist in a brief and bloody combat. Then along the same path that Vinthanamel had uncovered, skipping over the unnecessary or more dangerous areas. Bessok blessed the group with heightened stealth to ensure their success, then they flew across the bridge—hearing the strange sounds of clacking in the distance—and cautiously through the Bulette pens and over to the site of the earth portal.

A Gargoyle

Plans were made, spells prepared, and then it was into action. Morthwyl stayed silent and moved around out of sight, rushing from column to column while Vinthanamel flew up and lined up a lightning bolt that frazzled several of the Gargoyles and the more distant Prophet. The Gargoyles took the bait and flapped their stony wings, swooping downwards to engage Vinthanamel and Bessok, the latter having raised his dwarven ancestors to attack the incoming Gargoyles. The already heavily wounded creatures landed a few swipes on Vinthanamel before he aimed a fireball at the ground beneath him, the explosion washing over them all. Like shards of stone clattering to the ground, the remains of the Gargoyles fell while Bessok patted away a few flames that had caught on his robe.

Marlos Urnrayle,
Prophet of Earth

Further ahead, the Prophet of Earth turned, pushing down his hood to reveal the snakes that danced around his face like hair. A Medusa! He rushed forward, the guards keeping up with him at his side. Still unnoticed, Morthwyl kept moving around, preparing to engage the Prophet from the rear. Bessok moved forward to a nearby column, the Medusa on the other side, and his ancestors went to work attacking the monster. Not stopping there, however, Bessok pulled out a horn and blew it, some of the ancestors becoming solid and very, very angry. They rushed in to also engage the Medusa.

Now outnumbered, the Prophet raised his war pick once again, this time a beam of energy traveling from the elemental node to power up the weapon. He slammed it down into the ground, and the ground started to shake, all but the Medusa and the guards falling to the floor. He stepped in between the fallen bodies and started smashing his war pick into Bessok, though even prone he was a hard nut to crack. The war pick clanged off his plate armour a few times, then the dwarf was on his feet and fighting back, soon followed by his very angry dwarven friends.

Unseen and forgotten, Morthwyl suddenly rushed forth, one guard down in a flurry of attacks, the second heavily wounded as she closed. Though he took a heavy amount of attacks, the Medusa still remained standing as again the rumbling caused his enemies to fall to the ground. With previously unseen movement, he sunk into the earth and then rose up again, far away from the mass of dwarves. His war pick was raised again, another beam of energy, this one seeming to invigorate him, a few cuts and bruises vanishing. And as they healed, the ground split open, several of the dwarves falling into the crevice that formed.

For now, he had turned the tide, given himself room to breathe. But then it was Morthwyl's turn. Bessok rushed across the intervening space and slammed his shield into the Medusa, knocking him clean off his feet. Morthwyl was following closely behind, her blessed hammer thrown out again and again at the downed Prophet who reeled at the impacts until his body gave up on him. With a small burst, his body turned to mud and spluttered outwards before sinking into the ground, leaving only the war pick behind.

Pacing over, Morthwyl gathered up the war pick, turned and threw it straight at the earth node—it's how they'd closed the previous two. This time, however, the war pick clanked against the stone and fell to the ground. Bessok and Morthwyl shared a curious glance at each other, then she walked over to the war pick again, gathered it up. Using all her might, she swung it straight into the earth node, the war pick shattering as it came into contact, the grinding stone monolith doing the same, stone exploding around the large cavern.

And then the rumbling returned, this time stronger than before. Massive rocks fell from the ceiling, impacting heavily into the ground close to the group. It was time to run! Taking to the air they rushed for the exit, Bessok's summoned dwarves staying where they were to enjoy the carnage they were about to witness. Vinthanamel reminded everyone of the dwarven smith, and they changed direction slightly to travel into the smithing area. The Nothic were still here, barely; they were rushing southwards aiming to escape, several cultists also disappearing out of sight around a corner as they all made a break for it.

Behind them, another tunnel collapsed, so Bessok and Morthwyl quickly gathered up the dwarf who was obviously surprised, but also elated that someone had brought down the earth cult. He introduced himself as Rhundorth as they flew through the tunnels, one of the missing Mirabar Delegation. Out into the larger cavern, the group were just in time to see the bridge collapse, half a dozen escaping cultists going down with it, and then it was only a couple more caves before they returned to the entrance of the complex. The dust from the collapsing tunnels behind them rushed upwards as they landed, coating them all in a fine covering.