Too Close - 5/6 session recap

The party defeated a group of carrion crawlers, but one of them escaped. Xakoraki and John were left behind to guard while everyone else went down the only tunnel from which crawlers had not emerged. Thoric determined that this passageway had been widened by non-dwarven humanoids. Even so, it was only about five feet wide. A few hundred feet down the tunnel, Boreas spotted a secret door in the wall. It opened onto a short corridor that led to a small chamber with a teleportation circle inscribed on the floor. Hovering in the air above the circle was a small irregularity. It was suggested that perhaps the portal was open on the other end.

The party returned to find Xakoraki and John missing. Before they could panic, however, the two emerged from one of the carrion crawler tunnels. John had pursued the wounded beast and finished it off. Xakoraki followed to make sure that the lair was properly looted. Sadly, no loot was found. Only pieces of armor, broken weapons, and bones.

Someone mentioned the portal room, and John wanted to investigate. Boreas said that they'd come back to it later, but that they were going deeper into the dungeon first. John said that such a portal was the entire reason he was in the dungeon in the first place, and that if they would not show him the secret door, then he would look for it himself. Once again, the party left Xakoraki and John behind.

Several hundred feet later, the passageway opened into a large cavern filled with murky water. The last ten feet of the tunnel was a few inches underwater already. The air was rank and musty, and there was a sporadic dripping sound. As they took in the scene, they noticed ripples on the surface of the water, as if something submerged were moving around. The small waves became more pronounced, and a scummy coating began to creep up the sides of the tunnel walls. The party backed up, and the sheen of wetness continued towards them until they were about 25 feet away from the cavern opening. Spells were cast at the wetness with no effect. Growing curious, Boreas walked to the edge of the cavern, casting the occasional ray of frost at the water.

Once at the edge, he stopped. Something lashed out of the water and struck him in the face with great force. Nobody could see much of anything, due to the spray of water. Ander attempted to throw a shuriken into whatever it was, but it bounced off and was lost to the water. Boreas teleported behind the party, leaving Kylian in the lead.

Believing that Peshtem was with him, Kylian plunged forward into the cavern, immediately submerging in water that was deeper than his height. He felt something slightly springy under his feet, and then something smashed into his torso, giving him a squeeze before letting go. He made a prayer to Peshtem to punish the creature whenever it attacked him, but this seemed to merely enrage it.

Thoric threw himself flat at the edge of the cavern to reach down and grab Kylian's arm. Before he could start hauling him out of the water, a tentacle thudded into Kylian's leg. There was a snap, and he felt his femur break. Ander jumped into the water to save his friend, but his attack failed to find it's mark. A tentacle then wrapped itself around Kylian's leg and squeezed. There were crunching sounds, and he blacked out from the pain as Thoric pulled him to the surface. Boreas, having no target above the surface of the water, grabbed hold of Thoric and helped pull them further up the tunnel. Ander climbed over his unconscious friend and collapsed on slick floor.

Thoric murmured a prayer to Linitheriva while pulling Kylian another few feet. He regained consciousness in a tangle of bodies on the wet stone. His first words were, "Did I kill it?"

Ander reflexively rolled to one side just as a tentacle sprang forth from the water and slammed down where he had just lain. He then quickly moved up the tunnel along with everyone else. Once out of reach of the scum and tentacles, they stopped for a breather.

When they went back up the passageway, they saw that the secret door was open. Xakoraki was activating the lever every time the door tried to close. John was there with her. He said that he had completed his mission. He wanted to thank the party for their help, and said he had a certain divinitory power. He offered to answer one question for them, and that if he couldn't answer it, they could ask another one.

After some discussion and recollection of names, they asked John where Orvalion Parthanak the red dragonborn was currently located. John's eyes rolled back into his head and fluttered for several seconds. He then asked for a piece of paper, and Ander handed over his journal. John drew a teleportation circle and said that Orvalion was in a cave that had been the lair of a dragon, and that this circle would allow them to travel there. He then touched his amulet, and the glow at its tips began to pulse. He thanked them for helping him.

The party then started to discuss whether they should destroy the circle on the floor before them. About midway into the discussion, John vanished with a tiny popping sound. They then produced some climbing pitons and a hammer, and chiseled away the runes on the floor. The anomaly in the air above the circle vanished. Thoric then chiseled a rose into the floor beside the now-defunct teleportation circle.

Having accomplished one mission, and having a firm lead on the second, the party spoke of returning to Vrisana for their reward.