Into the depths

I return from a day of shopping on my own with only my bag of stones identified to show for it. Thanodel is back to his taciturn self instead of the wild-eyed twitchy fellow he’d become. Everyone else apart from Jutiapa go off to do their own thing. After pressing them both unsuccessfully for information I go to bed with a disappointing feeling that I have missed out on an adventure.

The next morning city guards arrive to escort everyone out of town. I am alarmed until they explain that I am not included in this banishment. There seem to be benefits to missing out on adventures.

I tag along anyway to find out what’s going on. The guards allow the party to stock up on provisions. I was perplexed as to why they needed two carts and this is when I get to find out a bit about what’s went on yesterday. They have a couple of magical submersible boats that must be worth a fortune. I quickly try and convince them to trade my horse and anything I possess for one of these but they decline. Even fluttering my eyelashes at Cronen and Braylec doesn’t have the desired effect. I eventually have to explain my plan to get to the hoard of magic items under the lake. Funnily enough Jutiapa, Quilethe and Rosco are all for it so we leave the city with the carts and pickup the oddly shaped, two man, covered boats. At the lake shore Thanodel flatly refuses to go in the boat and starts to go wild eyed again so we leave him to it. It is decided that Braylec and Cronen take the first one, then Quilethe and Jutiapa squeeze Rosco between them in the second one. I cast light on the prow of both boats and turn myself into a generic fresh water gilled creature with opposable thumbs. The rest stay with Thanodel and the horses as there isn’t room for them all.

Down, down we all dive and as the water starts to turn foul I discover a hatch in the lake bed floor. Opening it I guide the boats inside and close it after me. Inside there is similar hatch and a switch. Throwing the switch drains the water and I turn back to my normal form. All together on dry land we ready ourselves for a fight and open the second hatch.

The shaft this leads to slopes of at 45º. Cronen ties a rope to the hatch and climbs down to see where it leads. Personally I’d have let one of our rogue types do this but he seems to be quite gung-ho about it.
He reports that there is a large cavern some way beneath us and the shaft opens into the roof. There are two darkened exits on each side but there is no way to reach them as the bottom is some 60 foot below his rope and seems to be water. We debate how best to proceed and I grow my wings with a spell and carry Rosco down the shaft and into one of the openings.

Before I can do anything further he lights up one of his fire arrows and trots ahead down the corridor.

It ends with some heavy maroon curtains. Rosco checks for traps and though he doesn’t find anything he does discover that the curtains are magically locked. The little rogue is unable to unlock the fire resistant curtains so I use the knock scroll I purchased on another recent shopping spree. The curtains part to reveal a large, water filled living space.
Paintings and alcoves containing small chests adorn the walls. Casting detect magic reveals some of them are indeed invitingly magical. Rosco sees the paintings and with a frightened squeak makes a run for it. Examining them myself I see what can only be family portraits of underwater beholders. I race after Rosco and at the edge of the cavern I sweep Rosco into the air and back up to the hatch. Only the boats remain where everyone was just 15 minutes before.

Leaving Rosco with the submersibles I dive down the shaft and into the opposite corridor. It seems that Quilethe tied another rope to the one that Cronen had already used. She and Jutiapa lowered themselves down into the knee deep mud at the bottom of the cavern and were attacked by a mass of flesh eating eels. Quilethe having made it to the wall fell back on her arse so Jutiapa used her chest as a spring board to the wall and after a few nasty bites from the eels Quilethe finally managed to scale up after Jutiapa to the second corridor. This corridor ended in another hatch which the girls couldn’t open so they called for help. Braylec came and even he couldn’t open it on his own so he called for Cronen’s assistance. This is where I came in and I explained what Rosco and I had found. With my help the five of us finally managed to budge the hatch. Inside was a magical darkness that issues forth wails of frightened hopeless voices.

It is then that the sound of a great roar of water came from the cavern. I flew down the corridor to see a single boat hit the already filling cavern floor; followed shortly after by the limp form of Rosco. I dived down and scooped him from the water. Flapping my wings madly I manage to shrug off a spell aimed at me but before I can make the corridor I am hit by another altogether different spell. My limbs and wings turn stiff and I plummet to the floor with my body turning to stone. As I loose consciousness I find myself pinning poor Rocso into the mud.

Hearing our plight the brave adventurers enter the magical darkness and close the door behind them. Their guess is that we have succumbed to an evil beholder. The cries are from several fishermen who have been trapped here by the beholder. Cronen opens his magic chest and the light beams out to reveal the sailors hanging in four cages; while below them under water are several more tethered cages containing mermen. The sailors explain that a beholder comes every so often and takes one of them away for food. It uses a strange beam from it’s eyes to see in the darkness of the room. The water out side has filled the chamber and has sealed the door shut so that no one can open it. They each take a draught of potions that they have so Braylec and Quilethe float about the room in gaseous form while Cronen and Jutiapa fly about at will.

Cronen smashes open all the cages and the thankful sailors and mermen laud him as their saviour. Quilethe investigates an air duct but it is too long to traverse before the spell dissipates to they all settle on a cage each with bows and crossbows at the ready to await the beholder.

The door opens and the limp form of Rosco is thrown through the hatch and he splashes into the water bellow. Braylec, Cronnen and Quilethe release a hail of projectiles at the monster but in retaliation Cronen falls into the water bellow as he has also been turned to stone followed by one of the hapless sailors. Jutiapa unleashes a fireball from her ring and the beholder bellows in pain. It calls out “Don’t let her hurt me” and Braylec tries to grapple with Quilethe before she can release another volley but she twists in his grasp and he topples from the edge of the cage into the water. Quilethe blinks out of sight so only Jutiapa remains. Her arrow goes wide of the mark and she too is then turned to stone. The vengeful creature disintegrates the other prisoners and levitates it’s new toys from the water. It leaves the heavy Cronnen at the bottom, puts the still limp Rosco in a now empty cage and bids Braylec to help move Jutiapa down the corridor to it’s lair. Before the hatch slams shut once more the invisible Quilethe leaps though and quietly follows. Picking up my statue like body on the way too Jutiapa and I are arranged to it’s satisfaction in it living room. The beholds now suggests that Braylec tie us up to stop us being aggressive when we are returned to our normal flesh.

I awake to see the evil thing floating before me. I slyly asks me to disrobe and hand over all my possessions.

“Noooooo” I scream at it releasing a line of electricity that singes it badly.

It turns and flees calling for Braylec to protect it but stops and bellows in pain once more as it impales itself on an invisible arrow held out by Quilethe. Braylec runs over to help his good friend the beholder but I throw off my bonds and fry it to a quivering blob with a lightening spell. Release from the charm of the beholder Braylec looks confused. Now to turn Jutiapa to flesh once more.