We started with no Brisco or Xeelie. The door opened into a viewing hallway with more of that clear stone between us and the operating area, 5 feet below. Brian put us into encounter mode even though we had yet to see any foes. One foe had a +19 initiative, always a bad sign. A large Destrachan. There was also a Seugathi Researcher which forced a DC21 Will save. The dreaded Confused. Clarisa went first and missed that save. She then crit Oakwood with TK projectile for 16. And then punch at him and missed. The effect would expire at the end of her turn but until you saved, we’d be saving again if still in the area. And unknown thing went next and did an unknown thing. On Oakwood’s turn, he rolled a 3 and was confused as well. The GM made him use one blast and then 2 punches against Clarisa. All of which thankfully missed. Then the Destrachan moved up and bit TerStegan for 24 points. TerStegan rolled a 3 for his save as well but he used a hero point to critically save. He turned on his aura and missed with a 2. He then used Snap Out of It on Clarisa and she saved against her confusion. So, they were immune for a minute.
Clarisa blasted the big monster with missiles for almost 50, barely injuring it. The previously unseen researcher moved up behind the hit point buffer and with reach, did an envenom strike on TerStegan. And missed. Oakwood made his save, turned on his aura and hit the big thing with two fire attacks for 22. On its turn, it took 5 points for the fire aura and did a sonic blast which TerStegan countered with his performance. He rolled a 28 for a successful save. (The DC was a 25 reflex.) So, we all took half of 29. And then it bit TerStegan for 21. Brisco showed up but rolled too high for initiative so went after TerStegan at the top of the next round. TerStegan cast Bless and then crit the big thing for 39.
Brisco was too far away for the mind fog but since we were fighting in a hallway, it was a challenge to get to TerStegan. He cast a Heal at range for 37. And threw his trident and hit for 9. Clarisa finished it off with a TK projectile and then cast Shield. The researcher stepped forward and missed TerStegan twice. Oakwood designated it as his prey and then missed with a 2-action fire spear. TerStegan crit for 34 and then hit for 19. Brisco made the confusion save with ease and cast splash on TerStegan. And then did 11 with his trident. Clarisa finished this one off as well. Oakwood healed everyone poorly and Brisco treated him. TerStegan took its head but we weren’t 100% sure if this was the guy the mummy wanted. It did have a magic wand. Clarisa tried to identify it but failed. TerStegan succeeded with the same roll because it was an occult spell so the DC was slightly lower for him. It was a Status spell. It wasn’t much use to us but worth 160 gold so we’ll sell it. Those two attempts took time so Oakwood topped everyone off.
We shoved the bodies aside and moved into a room. There was a wall full of glyphs similar to the ones we’d seen before that control the stone walls. These were set “off” to allow passage. Oakwood tried his wall but it was solid. But over nearer the glyphs, it was off. There were ladders attached to the wall going down. TerStegan went down and looked about. There were crystals that Oakwood examined but he rolled crap for crafting so any potential value was unknown. At the furthest end were the stairs up that we came down and then fled a couple games ago. Because Brian kept mentioning it, TerStegan checked out the drain. There was water in it and he was able to move the drain cover aside. The water was deep. TerStegan used his grappling hook to search around. He did see some glowing mushrooms and could see it opened up into a bigger area. At the hydra lake area level? After much discussion, Oakwood went in with his bottle of air and a rope around him. He went straight down and looked around. It was certainly attached to the lake and this section was a bit deeper. It looked like a lair. But it would take 10 minutes to do a full search and he could hold his breath for 9 rounds. With the bottle of air, he could do it but it seemed complex. Plus, the hydras were still alive so it didn’t seem wise to stay down too long.
He decided to come up at which point a Sarglagon attacked. Devilish underwater aberration? Evidently, it made its perception roll for the round or two he was down there. Oakwood rolled a 25 for initiative but its stealth roll was much higher. He needed to make a DC 26 Fort which he missed. He used a hero point and succeeded only because of the +10. He was sickened 1 from water magically appearing in his lungs. It then critically hit for 40. (It had a +20 attack.) And then a DC 26 Fort for poison which he missed. That’s clumsy 1 and poisoned starting at stage 1. Thankfully it didn’t have a tentacle grab power sort of thing to pull him under. Brisco moved once to get down to the same level. But Oakwood was still several feet down in the drain and it would take another action to drop prone to reach him. He simply didn’t have the actions to do battle medicine. So, he used Aid to help TerStegan pull him out with the rope. He made the 15 roll with a 6.
But Oakwood was next. After checking to see when the poison got worse, it hit him with an aura. He critically failed that, used a new hero point and merely failed with a 1. Encumbered. I.e really heavy. He used Burning Jet to leap 40 feet without evoking reactions. However, because he was threading through the drain hole, he had to make a targeting Acrobatics roll. On which he finally rolled double digits. And ended up not quite as far as he hoped but got out of the aura. And then wretched and saved against the sickened. And then saved against the poison at the end, reducing it to stage 0. TerStegan replaced the grate for an action but there wasn’t really anything locking it down. And then he grabbed Brisco and moved away. Clarisa moved down the stairs and put a Floating Flame on top of the grate in case it came up.
We took a breath but the 64-dollar question was could it follow through the drain. It was large but slimy. And perhaps deterred by Oakwood’s Flame Jet and Clarisa’s Flame Sphere. Brisco did battle medicine on Oakwood for 30 and then climbed up the stairs. TerStegan moved up and prepared to turn on the walls. But Clarisa was still down there. She moved up and sustained her Flame on the grate just in case. On its turn, it appeared at the secret door we came in. Evidently it had a fly speed and could slither through hallways despite its large size. It was later revealed it had a Dimension Door spell that it has used to help cover the distance. It crit Brisco with a tentacle for 38 and he failed the poison save for Poisoned 1, Clumsy 1 and 8 more points. On its third attack, it only hit with a fang for 33 and took him out. Full to out in a round.
Oakwood took a 5-foot step, got into its aura and crit failed a Will save with a 2. He was encumbered again, this time for 3 rounds regardless of proximity. He picked up Brisco but that weight made him encumbered which in this aura meant he couldn’t move. So, he dropped his shield as a free action and got under the limit. Then used Qi Rush to step 5 and move 15 away from it. (-10 move from the crit fail.) He assumed it had reactive strikes since it seemed to have everything else. TerStegan turned on his aura, moved, swung, and missed. Clarisa used her last 3rd level missiles and barely dented it for 37. Brisco then rolled a 1 for his dying check and went to Dying 3. He could have use his last hero point to reroll but saved it for when he died. But he still had to make the poison save. He missed that and was dead from that damage at Dying 4. He used that hero point to cheat death and reset to unconscious. The GM allowed that to also save against the poison and it to reset his conditions.
And then suddenly it was its turn again. It hit but didn’t crit TerStegan for 28. And then hit again for 21. And he crit failed his poison save for another 11. And its last attack hit due to the clumsy condition and he took 18. (That’s 78 in one round for those keeping score. Plus, multiple conditions.) Oakwood did battle medicine on Brisco for 19 and put up a Timber Sentinel next to TerStegan. TerStegan had already saved against the aura. He missed his attack and had no hero points. But Brian thought we were due two hero points. (Things were intense and no one was watching the clock.) So, Oakwood and Clarisa got one. He hit with his second attack for 13 and cast Shield. And then failed his poison save at the end of his round and dropped. Clarisa considered many options including swapping cards since she had 3 hero points to burn. She did a recall knowledge and missed. And used a hero point to succeed. And learned it was immune to fire, being a devil and vulnerable to Holy which no one had. So, she didn’t cast a wand fireball as she had planned. She cast missiles, swapped Oakwood card to heighten it one level to 3rd and did 38. Brisco crawled 5 feet and cast ranged heal on TerStegan for 42.
It cast a spell. TerStegan stopped pretending to be out but missed with his opportunity attack. (Since he dropped his axe when he went out, it was only a bite.) It fired a line of water. Brisco, TerStegan and Oakwood somehow saved for half for 14. Since it knew TerStegan was alive, it bit him with a crit. He took 56 less 30 from the tree and barely stayed up. (Although still prone.) Oakwood healed TerStegan for 15 and then hit it for 8, 5 of which bounced. Clarisa did a 2nd level missile for 17. Brisco stood up, moved to TerStegan and did his doctor’s visitation for 27. And then did a treat poison, granting him a +2 on his next save against the poison. TerStegan grabbed his axe, stood up and attacked. And missed with a 6. And used his hero point and hit. He did 27 and killed it. 3 rounds of terror. He then missed the poison save again and took 16. Luckily the poison wore off in 3 rounds so we assumed he’d live with us patching him. Brian assumed we’d live to get back to the cabin via the rear entrance. It had nothing in its pockets but we assume anything it had was back at its lair under the water. And we were worried about a couple of measly hydras. Yikes.
