Session+88





** Session 88 ** **4/16/16** **Final Battle in the Underwater City - The Mother, Last of Ghandahaur's Lieutenants**

The group of companions, already worn, bloody, and weary, had gathered in the garden alongside the coral tower where they had finally taken down the Chaat archmage. Mali was feeling low on spells and with Ursus returned from death for the second time, the two druids opted to return to guard Azarius's mother.

There was a strange tunnel leading down that flexed and clenched like a giant sphincter... The passageway itself seemed to be living... swaying the kelp as it seemed to breathe... the walls wriggled... and some sort of chanting could be heard from below.

Shri whispered to Erevin to gather everyone near so that she could fill them with Eilistraee's light. "Gather unto me," the elven prince waved his friends close. Waves of bright cooling moonlight washed off of Erevin's moonblade, driving the murky water back just a little and healing the wounds of the group. Wren laid her hands on Erevin, further healing him with a hex as he touched his blade to Thorn for Shri to further heal him. Wren returned her hex of warding around Thorn and wove a greater heroism over Posy. Azarius wove another greater heroism over Erevin.

Erevin, Azarius, and Posy entered the passageway as the first group. The water felt warmer in the chute. Squirming tentacles made up the walls... sensing the foreign people within, the tentacles lashed out at them! One of them grabbed Azarius and pulled him against the wall, tentacles writhing over him! Posy smashed her dwarven hearth hammer to hack away the tentacle pulling in the sorcerer, spewing out fluid, and setting him free. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The first group continued on... <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">After watching in horror, Thorn, Kale, and Wren entered the shaft as the second group, managing to avoid the tentacles.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">As they swept through the curves of the living passageway, a cloud of face-hugging tentacle masks floated ahead. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Azarius brought his hands up, sending out a cone of cold to flash freeze and shatter the beasts! <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The sphincter chute contracted quickly from the sudden burst of cold, squeezing Azarius! <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">Finally group one paused at the edge of the tunnel, peeking out to see a larger room where an enormous tentacled beast was birthing more of the face-huggers, Azarius's father was laying on a grand stairway altar with a high priest of Ghandahaur. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;">The second group arrived to join them, and Azarius wove a spell of haste over everyone before they exited the shaft and wove a shield and mage armor spell over himself.

<span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #222222; display: block; font-family: arial,sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> Posy descended from the writhing fleshy passageway down into the larger room. The water was warmer here... cozy like a womb. A man stood on the stairway of an extravagant altar dressed in fish-scale robes and a helmet with a long angler-fish-like tendril. The enormous worm-like creature in the corner had several of the face-hugging tentacle masks suckling on her many teats. It had two giant scythe like arms on either side of it's gaping fanged maw... and it was consistently birthing more face-huggers from a claw-ringed opening at it's bottom. Two sharkmen were between the altar and the worm beast, standing guard. Posy scanned the room with caution and then moved aside and the waved the others down.

Erevin drew his moonblade and moved down beside Posy, sending a cone of cold blast over the face-huggers. The tentacle masks formed a wall quickly in front of their mother and shattered in the blast of cold! "My babies!" The wailing voice of the mother could be heard ringing through the water. Wren, Inali, and Kale moved down, and the young witch sent a bolt of cold directly into the mother, but the remaining masks moved in front of her shielded her from part of the blast, sacrificing themselves. Again the great worm wailed. Azarius wove a protection of evil over Erevin, and joined the others outside of the passage.

"YOU KILLED MY BABIES! YOU KILLED MY BABIES!" The mother screamed, and a great wave of sound rolled through the water into the companions, buffeting them in a sonic boom! Wren and Azarius looked physically torn from the wave, but Erevin managed to avoid it. Inali remained protected behind some of the coral, but Posy and Kale took some of the damage. The angler helmed priest pointed at Erevin with his wavy dagger, muttering in a watery language, and imploded the water around him with massive damage despite his swift elven grace that avoided part of it. Recognizing the divine magic, Wren nodded to the others, "Priest."

Posy charged toward the mother, but one of it's great scythe-like arms slashed viciously into the barbarian gnome! The gnome swung her dwarven hearth hammer, but the new tentacle mask sacrificed itself as a shield to protect it's mother. Thorn was flushed from the sphincter passage, and quickly drank his potion of blur. Erevin shook his head from the massive impact and nodded toward his moonblade, "If you can do something to prevent that from happening again... like cast that spell back at him or something to deflect it, that'd be awesome." "That is a more powerful spell than even I have, my love," she answered from within the blade. He looked at the blade, bewildered, "You are the high priestess of Eilistraee! Bearer of her power!" "I know," she replied, emphasizing the power that fish-scale robed priest had. The elven prince charged across the room, slashing his powerful moonblade into one of the sharkmen!

Cirdan pierced his beak into the witch's flesh, healing her with her own blood. Wren wove a spell to create a spouting column of boiling water near the birthing canal of the mother to decimate her babies as they were born. Kale moved forward near Erevin to engage the other sharkman. Azarius sent out a bolt into the priest, lightning crackling up his side to reel him back!

One of the sharkman attempted to disarm Erevin, but the elven prince held tight to his moonblade. The other sharkman was more successful, sending Kale's blade spinning into the water! The priest turned and pointed at the elven warrior, imploding the water around him, and sending Kale reeling in pain! The tentacled neck beard reached out to attack Posy, and wrapped her up in writhing tentacles. Her shirt automatically began to burn, washing the tentacles in fire... but the mother seemed to like the heat. The mother's long scythe arm pierced into Kale's back! The baby birthed from her canal was washed up to splat against the ceiling in the rushing warm water.

Held tight by the tentacles, Posy dropped her hearth hammer in a rage, shredding her claws into both the mother and the watery peapod looking beast that had faded in beside her and struck viciously into the little gnome. The thick hide of the mother was difficult to shred through, but the watery beast beside her reeled back in shock and pain! Erevin carved his blade through the blubbery flesh of the sharkman. Wren moved up, keeping Inali close behind her, and reached her hands around Kale to touch the sharkman attacking him, sending out a powerful harm spell as she released a bolt of cold from Cirdan into the priest. The sharkman's corpse floated in the water.

Azarius moved around the coral, heading toward the mother, but he seen another of the pea-pod water creatures heading toward his companions. The charismatic sorcerer sent a powerful green ray into the beast, disintegrating it into dust.

The peapod water creature by the mother, slashed into Posy twice before the mother swallowed the gnome whole! It was like a burning furnace inside the great worm, stinging her flesh. Another face-hugger washed up to splat against the ceiling as it was birthed into the flowing geyser. The remaining sharkman struck another gash into Erevin. The fish-scale robed priest pointed at Wren, imploding her! The witch's body formed into water as she died, leaving a swirled trail of red woven in the water where she once swam.

Posy struck with her claws from the inside of the mother, tearing her way out of the great worm! The remaining sharkman struck into Erevin again, sending his moonblade spinning through the water! Erevin stepped back, the sharkman following him, and the elven ranger drove his dagger deep into the creature's side!

Thorn tumbled around the great mother, moving in stealthily at her back. Kale in a fit of despair and anger, rushed the priest to meet him with a fog of green acid coming out of the dragon's mouth on his shield before he drove his blade into him! Inali rushed up with vengeance in her eyes to join Kale against the priest. Wren deeply unconscious and unaware... began to coalesce her watery body back together. Azarius sent another cone of cold to wash over the mother.

The priest wove a black magic and touched his hands to Kale's flesh, dropping the elven warrior unconscious to float in the water. The sharkman struck Erevin, sending the ranger's dagger spinning through the water. Peapod, the watery rogue came out from hiding under the mother. The mother screamed again, sending her sonic waves through the room, killing off the sharkman in the way, but Erevin managed to avoid her strike.

Posy dug her claws deeply into the worm's flesh as Thorn dug his way through her back with his daggers! Erevin stepped back, picking up his moonblade and dagger. Azarius wove a spell to give Peapod a feeble mind. Mother grabbed Thorn with her tentacled neck beard and slashed him with her scythe arm! The priest wove a spell, healing the big rents in the mother's body.

Posy retrieved her hearth hammer as Thorn slashed into the mother's head, held by her tentacles. Blood and water continued to slowly coalesce, reforming Wren as Kale hung unconscious in the water. Erevin moved around, drawing his bow and activating the brilliant energy, taking aim at the priest who was swatting away the annoying mer-fox who was trying to stab him with a dagger. The feeble-minded sea rogue struck Azarius with his blade. The charismatic sorcerer rolled one of his black tentacles out to put a shocking grasp on peapod the sea rogue, rolling electricity through his body! The mother swallowed Thorn whole into her fiery internal abyss and then she carved into Posy with her scythe arms! The priest charged down to Erevin, laying his hands on the ranger to drain away a mass amount of energy from him, leaving him greatly weakened. (-7 levels!? wth?!) Posy wielded her hearth hammer, smashing into the immense worm! Thorn used his two daggers to carve a hole from the inside of the mother, where he escaped to gasp in fresh air. Wren, healed by the water, continued to meld together. Erevin unleashed a full barrage of brilliant holy energy arrows into the dark priest. Too stupid to walk away while he could, Peapod continued to swing his blades against Azarius who again sent a mass of electricity through a shocking grasp, killing him! Unholy words came from the priest, blinding and deafening Erevin and Posy and fully stunning Inali! Posy swung wildly, in the last of her rage, and still managed to connect her hammer into the worm! Thorn in a whirl of elite vital strikes, finished off the mother worm! Erevin held his bow poised and ready, not sure where his target was... and Shri whispered for him to be calm and faded away the darkness. Able to see, but still deaf, Erevin whispered to his bow to name the priest... but the bow replied that it did not know... the priest was an outsider. Erevin pierced his brilliant and holy arrows into the dark priest like a pin-cushion! Wren finally appeared back in the water to see the dark priest rocking back from the arrows of light just a few feet from her... and she sent out a powerful cone of cold to finish him off. As she moved to collect Kale and Inali who were floating in the water, a booming voice filled the room... "Enough! I've had enough! You've slaughtered my children... and now my high priest! This is your ending!" The voice boomed out, filling the room! A ghostly phantasmal image flickered into sight, and the presence of a god washed over everyone! The temple rumbled, tentacles began to fall on the ground... the sphincter passageway was closed and everything was crumbling around them! "You have nowhere left to run... this is your last stand!" Ghandahaur mocked them with his deep and rumbling voice. Wren moved to stand in front of Kale's unconscious body and Inali who was still fully stunned, deaf, and blind. She spoke too calm, "Just remember you started this war." Posy swung her hammer through the visage to no effect, and Erevin sent several brilliant energy arrows sailing through the image. "And I'll finish it!" he gloated as the absence of the mother and the high priest continued to collapse the temple around them. Ghandahaur turned toward Azarius, "You have spurned the gifts I have given to your family for the last time! I am taking it all back!" Posy cut the birthing womb from the mother adding it the collection that they needed. Azarius clasped the ring with a single wish in his hand, wishing for him, all of their companions, and his relatives to be returned safely to the orc ship above where a surprised Uther and elven pirate crew welcomed them. Wren poured her hex heal into Kale and poured a potion down his throat to bring him just to consciousness. Below them, there was a bright glow... and the water dropped nearly 100 feet! The boat rocked as the waters churned! They could feel a violent thinning between worlds as the sky above them was ripped open! Fiery meteors fell from the sky! Feathery wings and tentacled creature parts floated in the water around them and a beautiful angelic elven corpse, broken and burned fell to the deck. Erevin scooped her up, wrapping her in his cloak as he glanced in deep sadness at the war in the heavens above them. After an hour of violent water and falling debris, the companions collected what they could of the angelic death from the water and the water finally calmed enough to sail... the dimensional thinning closed. It had been a really long day... and the companions were exhausted. Throndier sailed back toward Sarshel, and there was no sign of any part of the city left behind in the ocean water. It took nearly a week to return to the city... and everyone took the time for much needed rest and recovery, telling the tale of what had transpired below. Thorn was flinging his dagger, Rose, into the deck of the ship and finally his duplicate arrived, dressed in silk robe. "Did I interrupt something?" Thorn raised an eyebrow, still relieved to see his duplicate had survived. His duplicate beamed at him, "You know I thought I was dead! Since you know I'm a part of you... a part of your soul... and I thought I was gone. But then I was sucked into this gem... with these hot elf chicks!" Thorn gawked, "I know that gem! I know those souls! I'm so jealous!" "A gentleman never tells," his double grinned. "I'm going to live vicariously through you for that... start talking faster," Thorn insisted. His double grinned, "The paladin... you know they're always so 'holier than thou' kinda chicks... well they're freaky!!" He faded back away. It was the presence of Wren's patron that brought her back to life. The young witch thanked her. "Water is my element... it would be very difficult to permanently kill you as long as you are fully immersed in my element," her patron assured her, "I will not be able to protect you in Ghandahaur's realm... but there is a way that you can take part of my power with you. You must seek out the Queen of Rivers." "Then I will find this queen," Wren assured her. The young witch spent a lot of time tending to Kale and helping him to recover. "I'm so glad to see you," he hugged her close, "I thought I was coming to join you... How are you still alive?!" "Well... there's this really nice new perk that apparently came with my new patron," Wren snuggled in close, "And I'm so glad to see you... so thankful that you were still here for me to come back to." They were met by armed guards as they pulled the great orc ship up to port, towing the elven ship behind them. The group quickly assured the guards that the orcs were no more. LEVEL 16!!! Woot! From the Dragon Horde... +3 Warden of the Woods Armor Life Draining Greataxe much like Sword of Life Stealing - Evil! The weapon was given to the paladins to destroy. Belt of Physical Perfection +2 Str, +2 Con, and +2 Dex Slippers of the Triton  8000 gold each!