The City of the Kuo Toa pt 1
After the five sisters and Clyde had taken care of what they needed to, and Lincoln set up the next maps, the Loud and the bespectacled boy were finally gathered back around the table. The white haired DM looked over his friend and family with a big smile. "Welcome back. Is everyone ready?"
"Ready and raring." Clyde replied with a grin.
"Lucinda is prepared." Lucy answered.
"Set them up so we can knock them down, bro." Luan said, looking down at her character sheet.
"Let's get em!" Piped up Lana. Hops simply ribbited to show he was prepared.
"I am ready to face whatever you have planned with royal elegance." Lola said, in a very spoiled royal kind of voice.
"I'm ready." Leni finally said, her trademark smile on her face.
"You got your new spells prepped, Leni, Lucy?" The little goth girl nodded.
"Wait...I can change my spells?"
"Yeah. Cleric can prepare new spells after a long rest, as can Druids." Lincoln explained to his slightly dimmer older sister.
"And Wizards can prepare spells from their spellbook." Lucy interjected. "Meanwhile, Sorcerers, Rangers and similar classes can only change spells after gaining a level."
"Oh. Do I have to? I like my spells."
"That's fine, Leni. You don't need to. It's just an option." Her game leading brother replied, opening his notebook. "When last we left off, the group had been taken prisoner by the raiding Kuo Toas, forcibly taken back to their city. The only one left behind was Hops Sr, as none of the fish people wanted to get anywhere near the frog that was literally eating them for breakfast."
"My buddy." Lana grinned, patting her frog on the back.
"The group wake up one by one, finding themselves held in separate cells…"
Lenina groaned slowly as she opened her eyes, finding herself in what looked like a little cave made from coral. She blinked as she sat up on her uncomfortable cot, looking around the small makeshift cell. Apart from the cot, all there was in the room was a bucket. Her only way out was barred by large bones that made a makeshift cell door. Despite the city being underwater, there was no water anywhere here. Across from her, she could see Clyvor trying to force his own door open. Unfortunately, even with his great strength, he couldn't budge the door. "Clyvor?"
"Lenina? You doing ok, Lassie?"
"I think so...I'm a little confused though...where are we?"
"Truth be told, I'm not sure...I think those beasties took us back home."
"That is a safe bet." Lucinda butted in from the room beside Lenina.
"Lucinda? Are you over there?"
"I am. Unfortunately, the Kuo Toa have me tied up…" She replied, sounding upset about it. "Probably so I cannot use my spells."
"And they took our gear…" Luanne complained from her own prison chamber. "They even found the lockpicks I hid in my boots…" ("Stupid snoopy fish men…." Luan grumbled).
"This place is disgusting…" Lolavina whined, having the cell on Clyvor's other side.
"I think that's the least of our worries, princess…" Lanore said derisively, opposite the royal pain.
"Well, at least we know everyone is alright." The gnome cleric said with a certain optimism.
"True enough." Clyvor agreed, backing away from the bone cell as he pondered their predicament.
"I hope Hops Sr is ok…" The dragonborn lady said in a tone of worry.
"I'm sure he is fine." Luanne reassured her. Before they could continue any further conversation or plan any further escape, they heard the sound of plodding feet along stone like floors headed their way. Moments later, the same large, robed fish person appeared in the hall that was lined with their cells. He was wearing the same seaweed green robe, as well as shoulder pads shaped like lobster claws. In his hand was the same conch shell staff. He looked a combination of smug and angry all at once. Flanking either side of him were buff fish people, decked out in armor made of turtle and giant crab shells, and wielding spears taller than they were. The lead Kuo Toa stopped between the cells holding Lenina and Clyvor, looking between them.
"Well well…" The head of the school gurgled in a sort of common. "You've made our lives quite difficult back there…"
"You mean when we kept you from kidnapping innocent, hardworking sailors, and stealing their cargo!?" Clyvor snapped.
"...that is a minor annoyance compared to the bigger transgression, but it did slow progress down, yes."
"Bigger transgression? To what are you referring to?" Lucinda inquired from her cot.
"...the slaying of our god." The Kuo Toa leader explained with pure venom, his expression one of fury.
"Your god? The chuul?" Lanore asked in pure confusion.
"Yes. The being sent by the fates to lead our people to greatness...the provider of the Kuo Toa...the crustacean god." He elaborated to his gobsmacked captives. "We had given him the best of our prisoners as sacrifices, as our way of thanking him...but you have the nerve to kill our grand god!"
"Grand….god?" Lenina asked, her face turning red as it contorted into a rage to rival Clyvor's. "Grand GOD!?" The little devotee of Sune ran into the bone bars, startling both the Kuo Toa priest and her teammates by her sudden act of aggression. "How dare you!? How can you have the audacity to claim a MORTAL being like that…creature...is a being of divinity!? That is absolutely blasphemy, worshipping a false god like that! May Sune and the rest of the pantheon have mercy on your souls!"
Utter silence followed the tirade that came out of Leni's mouth, everyone in the room and the one Loud just outside the room looking completely shocked. Lincoln's mouth hung open and Lana was shifting away from her older sister, a little frightened. "Leni…" was all Lucy could say.
"What?" She asked, tilting her head. "My character is passionate about religion, like how I am about fashion. It's only natural she would be offended hearing that."
"...that was amazing." Clyde finally said, with a slightly nervous, but pleased grin. "THAT is roleplaying."
"Didn't know you had it in you." Luan commented after she snapped out of her shock, walking around the table to pat her older sister on the back.
"You tell them, sister." Lola told her, looking proud of Leni. The fashionista blushed a little at the compliments, while Lincoln recovered from seeing Leni absolutely tearing into the Kuo Toa priest figure enough to continue the game.
"False god? False god!? The crustacean god has done more for the Kuo Toa people than ANY of your so called pantheon! He had given us food, supplies, slaves! What has your gods ever done for us!? NOTHING!" The priest screamed right into Lenina's face, who didn't even flinch in her outrage. "And now, with the death of our god...we will have to find a new one to follow…" Upon hearing that, the gnome looked like she was about to have an aneurism. Not only were they following a false god before, but now they were simply going to find a NEW ONE!? As if they were replacing a ripped gown!? She was about one step away from a fury. "As for you all, you will stand trial for the murder of the crustacean god. Tried, then summarily executed."
"What!? What happened to a fair trial!?" Luanne yelled from her cell.
"The fact you are even being given a trial is fair enough." The head of the fish folk snapped in reply.
"You can't do this to me!" Lolavina screamed, banging her fists against the bone bars. "I am royalty!" The priest of the crustacean ex-god suddenly turned to look at her, with surprise and interest.
"Royalty? Really?" He inquired, moving over in front of the elf sorceress.
"I am PrIncess Lolavina of Sugarland! PRIN-CESS!" She screeched loudly. A few seconds after she screamed that and saw the misshapen grin on the priest's face, she came to the realization that she should NOT have said that. "...uh…..just kidding?" She added lamely, with a scared grin on her face.
"Well well, your highness. You are absolutely right. You shouldn't be treated as a common prisoner."
"...really?"
"Of course. You should be taken to a special room...where you can be prepared to be the first sacrifice to our potential new god."
"...me and my big mouth…" Lolavina muttered to herself as the priest's bodyguards open the gate and dragged her out of her cell.
"Let go of her, you muppets!" Clyvor shouted at them as they escorted the screaming princess down the hall.
"They're not Muppets, Clyde. Muppets are cute puppety things." Leni pointed out. "They're mean, ugly fish people."
"It's an insult that means a foolish person." The african american boy explained. "Often used in Britain, Ireland and Scotland."
"Ooooooh….does that mean they are called The Fools there?"
"Save your energy, Clyvor…" Lucinda called out from her cot. "Let us focus on getting out of this mess. We can rescue Lolavina after."
"So….anyone got any ideas?" Lanore inquired, sounding hopeful.
"You think you can melt the bars with that breath of yours?" The halfling lady asked, looking over toward the dragonborn's cell.
"I doubt it, if Clyvor can't even put a dent in them."
"Maybe you can swipe the guards' keys when they come by?" Clyvor suggested of the little rogue.
"Possibly...do you think they put anti magic fields in these cells?"
"If they bothered to bind my arms to me, I feel they did not." The dark robed half elf replied.
"Then it looks like we're stuck playing the waiting game then…" The dwarf barbarian commented glumly, sitting on his dirty old cot.
Meanwhile, Lolavina had been forcibly taken clear across the palace/temple that the group had been being held prisoner within. She squirmed and struggled for everything she was worth, but it wasn't enough. She couldn't escape the priest's guards. They brought her to a room that was a far cry from her cell. It looked more like it was the room of a royal guest or visiting dignitary. There was a large canopy bed made of the bones of some kinds of sea creatures, furniture that was as fine as one could make from wrecked ships, and tarnished silver candlesticks. If it didn't look so grim and dark in the room, it could possibly be nice. The extra long chain with the waist sized manacle on it wasn't helping matters. The two burly guards held the elven princess while the priest locked the manacle around her middle. "There we go. You should be quite comfortable in here...until we are ready to prepare you for the sacrifice." Lolavina pulled on the chain in a futile attempt to escape as the lead fishman strode out of the room. "Make yourself comfortable, your highness...while you still can."
"I hope you all end up in a fish stew!" Lolavina spat at them as they shut and locked the door behind them. She huffed as she started pacing about. She was both outraged and frightened beyond belief. They were going to sacrifice her to...who knows what? If these things would worship as hideous creature like that chuul, the pampered princess didn't even want to consider what could be next. She needed to get out of there, and she knew how she was going to do it. It was just a matter of when she could do it.
Hours passed, though it felt like days to everyone imprisoned. Lenina, Lucinda and Luanne were calmly waiting, not that Lucinda didn't have a choice in the matter. Lenina passed her time praying to her goddess, while Luanne lay on her bed, relaxing as she waited for her chance. Clyvor, Lanore, and Lolavina, however, were all bundles of nerves. The dwarf was tapping his foot against the stone floor, wishing something would happen, while Lanore was worried about her amphibian friend, pacing about and wishing she could get SOME idea of whether he was alright or not. The elven princess also couldn't sit or lay still; wandering all over the room, flopping down on the surprisingly comfortable bed, biting her nails as she shuffled about. The suspense was agony to most of them. Fortunately for them all, they didn't need to wait much longer. "Alright, you god killers…" A small fish person guard grumbled to the remaining five adventurers, though none of them could understand undercommon. "Your last meals...not that you deserve them!" He announced, holding a tray of soggy bread slices and little water skins. At each cell, he would toss a piece of bread and one of the containers into their holding cells, letting them fall to the ground.
"Hey! Can't even let us get them ourselves!" Lanore objected angrily. The Kuo Toa ignored her, throwing Lenina's last meal at her. Hearing what was going on, Clyvor was already at the bars. The guard, however, decided to throw his bread right over his head.
"Fetch." He glorbed derisively before moving on.
"I'll have the beef wellington with the asparagus and roasted fingerling potatoes, please." Luanne joked, only to have her nearly liquid bread get slopped right beside her cot. "...the service here stinks." The fish faced prison guard simply sneered at her before turning his back to her to face Lucinda. This was the moment Luanne was waiting for. She picked up her water skin and poured some of the water into her hand. After muttering a few words, the water froze into the form of a knife. The arcane trickster held the knife carefully as the guard opened Lucinda's cell and, the moment he put his keys back on his belt, she hurled it at his back. Her aim was spot on, the dagger hitting the aquatic watchman right in the back. Upon impact, it exploded in a burst of ice shards, finishing him off. The guard only had a chance to gasp before falling flat on his face.
"Fascinating." The dark cloaked half elf commented, as she watched the life fade from the Kuo Toa.
"You're just full of surprises, lassie." Clyvor said, grinning toward the halfling's cell.
"I don't like to brag…" The rogue replied with a smirk. "...but I do like to have a few extra tricks up my sleeve. And speaking of tricks...time to give a helping hand." With a wave of her hand, she created a small, invisible magical hand. With it, she was able to easily relieve the guard of his keys. After unlocking her own cell, she hurried over to free her magical associate, while her mage hand freed the others.
"Nice work, Luanne." The dark skinned dwarf complimented her with a pat on the shoulder. "This is definitely a step in the right direction."
"Now we just need to get our stuff, free the other prisoners and get out of here." Lanore said as she knelt by the dead guard, taking his weapon. "Here, Clyvor. It's not much, but it should help." She said, handing the short sword to him.
"I think I'll take this." The sneaky little lady said as she took the guard's blowgun and needles.
"Alright. Let's move." The brawny dwarf declared as he lead the group down the hall, in search of their equipment.
Meanwhile, well across the temple, Lolavina was sitting on the edge of the bed with her head in her hands. To some, it would seem she looked forlorn. In reality, she was getting bored and impatient. If someone didn't come soon, she didn't know what she was going to do, other than go crazy. Just as she was about to start beating her head against the wall, her door opened and in walked a tiny, bug eyed fish person in an acolyte's robe. "Good evening, your highness. I see you are enjoying your stay."
"You have a very twisted definition of enjoying…." She grumbled to herself, her arms crossed in front of her.
"The high priest is still seeking a potential new deity for our people to follow...but in the meantime, he wished for me to prepare you for the upcoming sacrifice."
"W...what? Now!?" She asked in fear.
"Yes, now. A simply sanctification and the etching of runes upon your person." The acolyte explained, which eased Lolavina's fear, if only a little. She thought they were going to cook her. "Now, if you would just come here…"
"W...wait just a moment…" The elf princess said, waving her hands in front of her, her arms outstretched. To some, it would seem she was trying to put some distance between her and the creature. In reality, it was because she preparing to enact her plan. The Kuo Toa stopped, looking right at her. "You don't want to do something like that to little ol' me…." She said meekly, giving the fish man the big sad eyes as she cast her spell. ("Yes!" Lola exclaimed after rolling the dice. "An eighteen!")
"I….don't?" The acolyte asked, his eyes turning a little pink as her enchantment started to take hold of him.
"Of course not. You're my friend." She explained to him, a smile coming to her face.
"I...I am your friend." He replied as if coming to a realization.
"And as my friend, could you please help me out of this thing? It's soooo very uncomfortable…."
"Certainly, my friend." Without a moment of hesitation, the priest in training strode over and unlocked the manacle from her midsection.
"Thank you so much." Lolavina chirped cheerfully. "You know, you work so hard around here, don't you?"
"Like you wouldn't believe, your highness...I bust my spines for the high priest…"
"You deserve a little rest. Why don't you have a little lie down?" The princess suggested, gesturing toward the bed. The Kuo Toa looked quite hesitant as he looked at the bed, wondering if he should.
"...well, perhaps a little break wouldn't hurt." He finally said as he climbed onto the bed. As soon as he laid back, the royal enchantress waved her hand again, sending a flurry of rose petals into the air. Before the acolyte could process what was going on, he was sent into a magical sleep.
"Nighty night." She said in a sing song voice before she got out of dodge.
"Nice move, Lola." Clyde told the little pageant princess with an approving nod.
"Thanks. I was hoping for a chance to really use my enchantments." She replied, looking very pleased with herself.
"Looks like this princess can rescue herself." Luan commented.
"She's not free yet." Lincoln interjected, almost sorry to be the killjoy in this case. "Just like the rest of you, she is still in a palace temple full of hostile Kuo Toas."
Lolavina ran her way through the temple interior frantically, hoping she could find some kind of friendly face. She may not be as fearful of getting into a fight as she was aboard the ship, but she was still no fighter; and if she were to run into a group of her captors, she would be back to square one. Unfortunately for her, she had no idea where she was going. Even less fortunately, a bad turn of the corner brought her face to face with a fishy soldier, decked out in scale armor and carrying a trident and net. His eyes locked onto her the moment she appeared. "...er….oops. This isn't the way to the bathroom...hehehe…" She nervously chuckled, grinning a bit. The fish faced patrolman wasn't buying it, however, stepping toward her with an angry glare. Before it could get near her, however, the Kuo Toa was suddenly pulled off its flippered feet and pulled backwards. The aquatic soldier flew right into Hops Sr's open mouth, who bit down on the fiendish fish. He shook the creature in his mouth, slamming its head against the wall a few times before swallowing it. The elven sorceress was kind of horrified at what she had just witnessed, but grateful at the same time.
"...you just earned two respect points with me, Hops." Lola told the little frog, who smiled at her.
"Really? What's it at now?" Lana asked eagerly.
"Two." The hat wearing twin frowned at her bratty counterpart, but her pet frog didn't seem bothered at all, so she let it go.
"How'd he get into the temple like that?" Leni asked, scratching her head. Hops proceeded to croak out an explanation that only two people there could understand.
"Hops told me he wanted Hops Sr to sneak into the temple via their 'stables'." Lincoln translated, getting surprised looks from everyone at the table but Lana. "What? I learned to better understand frogs hanging with Lana and helping her rescue a bunch of frogs." He elaborated with a shrug. "Anyway, after he swam in there, avoiding the sharks the Kuo Toa used as mounts, he started to look for Lanore. He thought he had her scent, but ran into you two en route."
"Lucky Lolavina." Lana commented, patting Hops on the head.
"Er….thank you, Hops Sr…" The sorceress said nervously, as the giant frog simply croaked in reply. Then, he started to hop down the hall, right past her. "Huh? Where are you going?" She asked, chasing after the monster sized amphibian.
Some distance away, in a small room barely larger than a closet, a lone fish creature was standing guard over the chest which held the condemned prisoners weapons. He looked bored as anything as he leaned against one of the walls in the small room. This kind of guard duty was tedious and dull. He had to stand in this tiny room and guard this one box, full of stuff he couldn't even touch or look at. He couldn't even stand in the hall to guard it. As he pondered his dreary duty, he heard a knock at the door. He babbled a response in undercommon. "Message for you." Came the the overly chipper response from the other side. He blinked, standing up straight as he opened the door. The moment he did, Clyvor grabbed him by the neck and threw him against the wall opposite the door. With a stab with the short sword, and a well aimed needle from Luanne, the Kuo Toa guard was slain.
"Quick and easy." The rogue commented with a satisfied tone before she moved over to the chest. "Hmmmm. Locked, of course."
"Can you unlock it?" The dragonborn ranger inquired, searching the guard for a key.
"Easy." Luanne replied confidently as she walked over to the Kuo Toa, took hold of one of his fin spines, and snapped it right off, making her friends cringe a bit. ("That's kinda dark…" Lucy commented, before smirking. "I like it…") She then moved back to the chest and started to fiddle with the padlock. In spite of being forced to use an improvised pick to work the lock, she managed to successfully unlock it. "Come on in and take your pick." She quipped, stepping aside to let her allies in to collect their gear.
"Now this is much better…" Clyvor said with a grin as he shouldered his warhammer. Lucinda pulled her spellbook close to her chest, like a child holding a precious teddy ("Awwwwwwwww!" Leni, Lola, Luan and Lana all cooed after Lucy described that).
"Now we just need to find the other prisoners…" Lanore said as she put her scimitar and scabbard onto her belt.
"The question is: where are they?" Luanne inquired as she stowed her dagger away and picked up the club the elven princess carried for emergencies.
"Maybe one of the fishy folk know." Lenina suggested, putting her mace away.
"Not a bad idea...only most of them don't speak our language…" The dwarf pointed out with a frown.
"I can get around that." Lucinda spoke up, opening her spellbook. "Last time I visited the library during our last adventure, I was able to scribe a divination spell called Comprehend Languages. It will allow me to understand them for an hour."
"Good thinking, you magical genius." The dragonborn ranger said with a grin. "Now, let's go find a few fish to f-" Before she could finish her thought, she heard a familiar leaping and flopping sound. All five heads turned to see Hops Sr hopping toward them, croaking at the sight of Lanore. "...Hops Sr!" She cried, running over to hug the oversized frog. "You're ok!" The king sized croaker smiled and nuzzled his dragonkin friend. At that moment, Lolavina came running up to them, looking out of breath.
"Lolavina! You escaped?" Luanne inquired in somewhat impressed surprise.
"Don't sound so surprised…" The elf princess said, kind of angrily.
"Don't take it like that, lass. We are relieved to see you're alright." Clyvor said, walking over to make sure of that. "How did you get away?"
"I just waited until one of them came to prepare me for sacrifice, then I simply enchanted him into letting me go." She answered with a bit of a grin.
"Nice." Lucinda said in a monotone. "But what about after? How did you not get caught?"
"...I hadn't figured that part out, and I almost did get caught...but Hops Sr ate the fishman who found me, then led me right to you all."
"Good work, buddy!" Lanore said with a grin to her animal ally.
"Well, the gang's all here, so let's get to work…" The halfling sneak said, cracking her knuckles. "Time to go fishing."
"So, did you hear? The crustacean god has been slain." An axe wielding fish guard said in a hushed voice, to his patrol partner, who carried a hook sword and shield.
"No fooling?" The other Kuo Toa inquired in surprise.
"Honest halibut. Slew by a pack of humans."
"Well, I'll be dipped and fried…"
"You don't sound so broken up about it."
"Keep a secret? I never liked the crustacean god much…" The ax carrier looked aghast at his partner. "What? He didn't just eat the sacrifices...he ate us."
"...ok, I see your point, but he provided for us. And with his help, we captured more slaves and resources than ever."
"Yeah, I get it. But I get the feeling that he was working more for himself than he was helping us, his followers."
"I see where you're coming from...but you gotta remember. He's a god. Or at least, was a god..." The first fishman said, not noticing as his friend was suddenly pulled down an alternate hall. "...and gods, well, can do pretty much whatever they like. It's how it works. It's not always ideal for us mortals, but when he blesses us with a boon, that made it all the more glorious, right…?" He stopped in his tracks when all he heard was silence. "Right?" He turned around and realized he was alone. He wondered for a moment where his partner had went, when he saw a hand beckoned to him from the intersection. "There you are…" The first guard said with a irritated look. "That was very rude of you, walking away when I'm-" Before he could finish reprimanding his associate, he was suddenly grabbed by a strong pair of hands and shoved against a wall. Clyvor had his hand around the fishman's neck, glaring at him.
"Mystic powers, grant me the ability to Comprehend Languages." Lucinda recited, a soft white glow surrounding her ears.
"Alright, buster...we got some questions for you...and you better have the answers." The dwarf said with a growl.
"The god slayers!" He exclaimed. The Kuo Toa patroller was about to scream for help, but Lucinda quickly covered his mouth.
"You know, there are fates worse than death, right?" She said threateningly. That made him shut up quickly. "That's better. Go ahead, Clyvor."
"Now then...where are the other prisoners?"
"...I wouldn't tell you...and even if I could, you wouldn't be able to understand me, stupid land dwellers…" The Kuo Toa replied derisively.
"I can….and you will…" The dark robed half elf said in a low, growling voice.
"Hey, Hops! You still hungry?" The dwarf barbarian asked, holding their aquatic prisoner like he were about to throw him out of a pub, facing the giant frog, the fish creature looking positively horrified.
"Clyvor, wait!" Lenina intervened, standing in front of him, holding her arms out. "Do we really have to do this?"
"Lenina! What are you doing!?" The elven royal brat exclaimed in disbelief. "They tried to sacrifice me, and sentence you all to death."
"I know. I know they're a bunch of mean creatures...mean, blasphemous creatures...but is it really their fault?" The gnome cleric reasoned, stepping closer to the shivering monster. "For all we know, they could be mean because they were always treated so poorly…"
"Is she serious? She isn't serious, is she?" Lanore asked, looking dumbfounded at Luanne, who looked similarly perplexed as the cleric took the Kuo Toa from the hands of Clyvor.
"There there…" The blonde haired healer said as she set down fishman against the nearest coral wall, patting him on his scaly head. "We just want to know where all the sailors we were with were taken. Could you tell us where they are being held?"
"...Yes...yes….just...keep that frog away from me….." The shaken fish man said. Lucinda gave them all a nod, confirming that he was willing to talk. "Most of them were taken to the slave pens...the others to the holding cells for future sacrifices...the slave pens are in the eastern wings, the cells in the lower catacombs…"
"Ok...we know where to go…" Lucinda said, frowning slightly. "We need to head to the catacombs to find the victims to be sacrifices and the eastern wings for the slaves."
"So, how do we go about this?" Lana asked her fellow players, the six kids and one frog getting into a huddle. "Do we split up or go to each spot together?"
"Hmmm. Splitting up means we can save all the captives at once." Luan commented, looking pensively at the map before them.
"Yes...but it also means we have fewer numbers to face potential threats…" Lucy countered.
"Very true, Lucy, but going full force to one prison may cause them to bolster their forces in the next." Clyde pointed out, casting a sideway glance toward Lincoln as he seemed to be reviewing his notes for the next encounter.
"Well, Clyde does know how Lincoln works his games better than we do." Lana whispered to her fellow players.
"And considering we mopped the floor with these things easily so far...even the bigger ones were no problem." Lola said in a hushed voice.
"Well, if we can rescue both groups of prisoners, all the better." Leni commented quietly.
"So, we split up, gang?" The family comic inquired. Her sisters and Clyde looked to one another for a moment before they nodded to her. "Alrighty then."
"OK lasses. Here's how we're gonna run this. I'll lead group A, while Lanore leads group B." The dwarven nature warrior started to say.
"Hold up...why is Lanore leader of group B?" Princess Lolavina complained, her hands on her hips.
"Well, if you would like to be taking responsibility for the team's safety, as well as the safety and well being of the prisoners, then be our guest." Clyvor said with a half smirk, his arms crossed in front of him. The elven princess looked huffy for a moment, then slumped her shoulders in defeat. "That's what I thought. ("You'll pay for that one…" Lola threatened Clyde quietly.) If it makes you feel better, you can pick which group you'd rather go with, princess." The golden haired sorceress looked between the dwarf and the dragonborn. She wasn't fond of either of them, but understood Clyvor's strength and that he could protect her quite well, so she moved over beside the barbarian.
"I will go with Lanore." Lucinda monotoned, walking over to the ranger. Hops Sr, naturally, hopped over to join his humanoid companion.
"Me too." Luanne interjected, joining group B. "I think they could use my sneaky talents a bit more."
"I"ll go with Clyvor and Lolavina then." Lenina said.
"And you'll be coming with as well, me boy." The hale and hearty dwarf said as he grabbed the kuo toa by the arm. "You're gonna lead us to the slave pens so we can be certain you don't go telling your buddies about us."
"But...anyone who sees us will know…" The fishman said, and Lucy related to them all.
"Yeah?" Clyvor smirked to him. "And if they saw you 'dragging' us in chains?" The aquatic soldier blinked, but the dwarven barbarian had started to drag him down the hall, followed by Lolavina and Lenina. Meanwhile, the other group headed in the other direction, looking for a way down to the catacombs.
Down in the lower levels of the temple palace, in the center of a massive, damp cavern, was a cauldron almost as big as the fish person stirring the contents within. This particular creature was much bigger than the others, both in size and girth. His scales were more a dull silver color, with elongated fangs, and one eye completely red and pupiless. He was wearing a turtle's shell and an apron, stirring a pot of some kind of soup full of creatures of the sea. All around him, on the walls of the cavern, were tiny spaces filled with some kind of glue like goop and a single humanoid creature in each one. Humans, gnomes, elves, a kobold or two, even a few aquatic humans known as tritons. Nearly thirty prisoners were being held in this cramped alcoves. The bloated fish had poured some of the soup into a stone bowl and approached the nearest prisoner; the captain of the ship they had just sank. A middle aged man with long, straggly black hair and a five o clock shadow.
"Dinner time…." The giant sized kuo toa told him (not that he could understand the finny fiend), holding the bowl out to him. The dark haired captain grit his teeth and smacked the bowl out of his hand, sending the food to the floor. "Now, there's no need for that…" The fishy cook said indignantly, his fists on his hips. "You gotta eat. How do you expect to grow big and juicy for our potential new god if you won't eat?" He shook his head as he plodded back to the pot. "Some people….so ungrateful to be offered to a higher being...just finning amazing…" As he grumbled to himself and started to dole out a new bowl of soup, Luanne, Lanore, Hops Sr and Lucinda peeked into the cavern. laying beside them were the corpses of two kuo toa guards; one with a deep stab wound to the back, the other riddled with slash and teeth marks. To their great fortune, they were able to eliminate these two quickly and quietly. It meant they could focus on the whale of a creature at the soup pot.
"Ok...get into position, Luanne." Lanore whispered to the sneaky brunette. She nodded and snuck her way into the room, moving as quietly as she could. A few steps in, she stepped on a brittle rib cage left laying around, causing it to shatter and clatter to the floor. The arcane trickster's breath got caught in her throat as she dove for cover. Fortunately for her, she was able to hide away just as the chef turned to look. ("Whew. Love that halfling luck." Luan commented, looking as relieved as her character) She waited for a moment for the aquatic soup server to get back to his pot before she started moving again, hiding behind one of the largest stalagmites in the room. Lucinda remained by the entrance, a freezing fog appearing in her hand, while Lanore creeped closer to the kuo toa. Hops Sr stayed by the cloaked half elf, ready to literally leap into action. The dragonborn ranger made a hand motion to her halfling associate, who drew her blowgun from her tunic. With careful aim, she launched a tiny dart right into the side of his bloated neck. The scaly chef gasped at he dropped the bowl and slapped his hand on the spot where he had been struck. The black cloaked wizard then unleashed a torrent of pure cold at the giant sized fish man. The aquatic monster wasn't damaged much by it, but the chill made him shiver subtly.
("Nice surprise round you two." Lincoln complimented them.) The monster sized fish man turned with a few stomps and roared at the only three he could see (Lanore, Lucinda and Hops Sr). The dragonborn beastmaster was the first to move, lunging at the bloated creature with her curved blade. With a being that size, she would have been hard pressed to miss, leaving a deep stab wound in its enlarged gut. From her hiding place, Luanne fired another dart from her hiding place. The thin bit of metal was a mere mosquito bite to the kuo toa chef, but the well placed strike hit a pressure point, making it hurt a LOT more than it usually would. Hops Sr sprang from the entrance to the cavern, clamping his jaw down on the arm holding the stone ladle the fish man was stirring with. The overstuffed kuo toa growled and swung his arm around, flinging the giant amphibian off of him.
"Yeah! We got this!" Lanore commented with a grin, noting how much damage they had done to this monster already. It was then the beastly cook made his own move. He dug inside his turtle shell and pulled out a small flask with a slimy, dark green liquid. He chugged down the contents, which caused him to grow to giant size. The three adventurers and one frog's mouths all hang open as he pulled a massive cleaver from said turtle shell.
("Open mouth. Insert foot." Lola whispered with a snicker.)
"...I believe mistakes have been made here…" Lucinda said as she gazed at the huge, cleaver wielding fish monster.
Meanwhile, the ax carrying humanoid fish creature was pulling along Clyvor, Lolavina and Lenina with their wrists wrapped in chains. At first glance, it seemed like a simple prisoner transfer. However, if someone really looked into it, they would see that the escorting guard looked very nervous and on edge, the chains weren't even binding them that tight, and Lolavina wasn't complaining at all. The small group passed by a few sentries along the way, but none of them thought anything of it. Looked just like a prisoner transfer. After a couple minutes of walking, the four of them arrive at the prison wing, which was filled with guards. A varitible horde of kuo toas; milling about, standing guard in front of certain cells, shooting the breeze with one another, and a few bringing captives to and from slave labor. One look around was enough to give the three pause for thought. This plan didn't seem so good anymore, especially with their own fishy captive leading them to the very center of the wing. "You better keep your mouth shut if you're wanting to stay healthy…" Clyvor whispered threateningly to the one holding their chains. Said aquatic kidnapper gulped as his eyes darted around at all of his fellows, then back at the three adventurers. It was then he stopped right at a three way intersection (all lined with cells), and screamed:
"The god killers have escaped!"
"You donkey!" The furious dwarf shouted, quickly drawing his warhammer and ending the fishy tattletale. Lolavina and Lenina dropped the chains and the act, just as the many fish folk started to arm themselves.
"...I think I'm going to have to do this in waves…" Lincoln muttered, looking at the VERY crowded map. "...I don't have enough kuo toa figures for the encounter."
"...but...there are already so many on the table…" Leni commented, looking very worried about their characters so very outnumbered.
"Lincoln, this isn't fair!" Lola complained angrily.
"Trade with ya…" Lucy said quietly.
"Yeah. We aren't exactly in any better shape." A kind of shaky Lana agreed.
"Actually, I think our two groups are right where we need to be." Clyde interjected as he looked at the two encounters, which made everyone look at him like he were nuts. "Think about it. Lucy, Luan and Lana's characters are best at damaging single targets, while Lola's has spells that can deal with multiple enemies."
"What about you and Leni?" Lola retorted, her fists on her hips.
"Clyvor can handle a group with ease, even if he can only clobber one at a time, and with Leni's character backing him and Lolavina, we should be ok." Lola and Lana don't seem to really believe him, still very intimidated by these odds.
"Well, Clyde has played this game a lot longer than we have…" The second oldest of the Loud children pointed out, just as uneasy about what they were facing, but feeling a little better upon hearing his logic. "...so if he thinks we can do it, then we can do it."
"...if my character dies, you stay away from her funeral…" Lola growled as everyone's attention returned to the game.
"Clyde, Lola, Leni, roll for initiative." Lincoln announced.
"Well, this went pear shaped in a hurry…" Lolavina complained, looking down the hall to the right, which held about seven armed fish men. "Well, here goes." The elven sorceress waved her hands as a sphere of fire appeared in her hand, the spell forming much faster than usual. "Time to fry. Quickened Scorching Ray!" Three fiery rays flew through the air, each one vaporizing a kuo toa each. ("Ok, little dicies. We can be friends again." Lola commented sweetly, patting her twenty sided die.) As her spell was quickened, she still had an opportunity to do something else with her turn, so she takes the chance to protect herself. A golden glow surrounded her as she touched her own face. "Goddess, protect me from evil with your golden shield."
"Huh? How can you do that?" Lana inquired, scratching her head. "I thought those were Lenina's kind of spells."
"Well, according to this book of Lincoln's…" Her beauty obsessed twin said, pulling one of the many source books her brother had over. "...Lolavina's di...vine soul let's her use this spell."
"...divine soul?" The animal lover raised an eyebrow in skepticism, smirking.
"What? She is simply divine, as am I." Lana opened her mouth, but Lincoln covered her mouth to prevent shots from being fired.
"Not now, Lana…at least wait until the encounters are over."
"Good idea, Lolavina." The golden haired gnome said with a smile, putting a hand on the mighty dwarf's shoulder. "Lovely Sune, protect this soul from the sting of evil."
"Cheers, lassie." Clyvor said as a golden light surrounded him. A few of the nearest kuo toa swung at the dwarf with swords and axes, with their weapons simply bouncing off of him. The elven princess' luck wasn't quite as good. She managed to avoid getting slashed by one fish man, but was struck in the shoulder by a spear.
"Agh!" She screamed, stumbling back into Lenina. Meanwhile, Clyvor decided to try something a little different. He rams his shoulder into the fish creature in front of him and, with his significant strength, knocked him backwards. Unfortunately for his mates behind him, this caused a domino effect, knocking the whole line prone. The next two attacks from the few kuo toas that could reach them were aimed at Lenina. Their blades tore right through her sundress, but couldn't penetrate the scale mail that lay beneath it.
("Clyde, I am glad you convinced her to do that." Lola told the african american boy beside her. "But I'm still upset with you") The remaining aquatic fiends couldn't easily reach the group, so they were forced to wait. With Lolavina's opportunity to strike arriving, she saw her chance to put a serious dent in their ranks. She pulled a small, red scale from her component pouch and held it high over her head. "Agaz...Aggagga...Aganana…"
("Aganazzar's." Lincoln said in an attempt to help her.)
"Aganazzar's Sc...scor...Scorcher!" Lolavina shouted, hurling the scale to the ground, which caused a line of searing fire in front of her. Six kuo toas were caught in the blaze and were reduced to ashes in seconds. The few remaining fish creatures on her side fled in absolute horror at the sight.
"Brilliant, your highness!" The tanky dwarf complimented the spellflinging princess.
"That did work nicely." She said with a grin, looking toward the fish people threatening Lenina. "And you're next!" She warned them with the most sinister smirk she could make.
"With Sune's blessing…" Leni chanted, healing Lolavina's shoulder wound while paying little mind to the kuo toas who had attacked her. Between witnessing their allies getting incinerated and the royal pain's threat, the fish fiends hastily backed away from the gnome priest.
"Are you going to take an opportunity attack?" Lincoln asked her.
"A what?" His kindly, but somewhat dim older sister inquired.
"Whenever a character in battle exits another's threatened zone, or otherwise presents an opportunity to be attacked, you can attack them if you like." He explained to her, pointing to the figurines moving away from her character.
"Oh. Well, she doesn't even have her weapon out, so I guess no."
"Wait. How did Lana not get attacked by the lobster thing earlier!?" Lola interjected.
"Because she disengaged from him as part of her move." The white haired dm explained. "It allows a player to leave a combat square without getting hit."
"Oh. Good to know."
Clyvor, on the other hand, still had one kuo toa assaulting him. However, even though he had gotten hit, the damage was a drop in the bucket for him. The fishman guard he had knocked over previous round had started to get back up, only to get slammed in the face by a steel warhammer. It wasn't slain in the attack, but it was hanging by a thread. His fellows in the domino line fearfully crawled away from him. "Not so tough now, are you, you planks!" Clyvor yelled before he swung his faithful hammer into the fish monster who had struck him, this one getting killed in a single, brutal strike. ("You see?" Clyde said to Lola and Leni. "Not that bad. There may be a lot of them, but they aren't that tough.")
Meanwhile, back in the sacrifice cells, the giant sized kuo toa in the turtle shell had taken a swing at Lanore with his giant cleaver. However, with as bad as he was shivering from Lucy's arctic attack, his aim was very off. The blade flew right over Lanore's head, causing the draconic lady to breathe a sigh of relief. Finally, it was Lucinda's turn. Seeing potential in the results of her previous casting, Lucinda invoked a new cloud of extreme cold. Once more, the attack wasn't too damaging, but left the bloated beast person shivering. The dragonborn leader of the crew disengaged from the giant creature, drawing her crossbow and launching a bolt at its over-large gut. Unfortunately, her shot simply bounced off its shell like armor. Luanne watched the situation from her hiding place, considering what to do. Her blowgun was an option, but they needed a lot of damage and quick. She didn't have any more diamonds, so she couldn't use her Chromatic Sphere spell. However, she did still have the waterskin from earlier. She poured water into her hand, creating a dagger of ice. She hurled it at the oversized guppy goon, hitting it dead on with both the blade and the explosion of ice after. Lanore's giant frog companion springs over to the kuo toa cook and clamps its teeth onto the back of his ankle. Unfortunately, it did hardly any damage to the fish creature. The furious, magic boosted kuo toa swung his knife at Hops Sr this time. Once more, he barely missed, but his sheer size caused his attack to destroy the rocky spire that the magically inclined sneak was hiding behind. Fortunately, she remained unnoticed, as the soup slinging water breather was focused on trying to take a bite out of the Lanore. However, its sheer girth and lack of flexibility in its armor made it impossible for him to bend over enough to sink his teeth into her.
Lincoln leers at Luan, who was looking a little smug. She had pointed this fact out to him and he couldn't deny she had a point, and he was pretty salty about it. Leni, Lana, Lola and Clyde were trying their best not to laugh at the look on his face. "You know…" Lucy commented, a tiny grin on her face. "...that probably would have worked for him if he hadn't made himself a giant."
"You're so right, Luce." Luan agreed with a grin, ready to further rub salt in the wound. "His 'big' surprise is bringing 'small' returns to him."
"Well...it was kind of a scary surprise, Linky." Leni interjected, hiding her silly smile with her hand as she tried to make her little brother feel better.
"...thanks, Leni…" The Loud DM replied flatly, appreciating her kind words, though they did little to soothe his irritation. "...let's move on, shall we? Lucy, it's your move."
"Very well. Lucinda casts Frostbite once more." The little goth said, holding out her hand as if she were casting the spell herself.
"Mystic powers, chill our foe to the very bone. Frostbite." Lucinda chanted, a third wave of bitter cold afflicting their obese foe. This time, however, it seems to have shrugged off the spell entirely (thanks to Lincoln finally succeeding a con save). Lanore loads a new bolt into her crossbow and hastily fires a shot at the kuo toa. This time, her aim was true, the bolt hitting him in one of his many chins. The halfling lady gets an idea at this point. Slowly sneaking her way around behind the king sized fishman, pulling a piece of pork rind from her pocket. She hurls it at her opponent.
"Hey, fat boy! Have a little more grease!" She yelled, as the pork rind turned onto a big glob of grease. The glob splattered right on the giant chef's head, causing the slick mess to cover him and dribble onto the floor. Other than making a mess and annoying the tub of lard even more, it didn't seem to do much. Hops Sr had a feeling something was going to go down, so he disengaged from the enemy and hopped out of range. The kuo toa stomped its feet as it turned toward Luanne. However, when he took his first step, he slid right onto the puddle of grease forming underneath him. Being large and not at all graceful, he ended up falling flat on his massive back. "Looks like you're the 'fall' guy here! Hahahaha!" Lanore snickered a little, while Lucinda rolled her eyes under her hood.
"Luanne, you're brilliant!" The dragonborn complimented her with a grin. With the opponent rendered helpless, the half elf wizard decided to start barraging him with magic missiles from the entryway. The draconic ranger considered for a moment using her breath attack on the overly round kuo toa, but decided to hold back on it. Instead, she sprang forward, re-drawing her scimitar and slashing into his slimy, scaly skin. Pleased with the results of her spell, the little rogue pulled out her knife, casually strolled over to the helpless ball of blubber, and stabbed him right in the leg. Hops Sr joined in the beatdown, leaping over to bite the kuo toa's arm. Fuming mad, the giant sized fish monster tried to get right back up. However, not only was he unable to get up due to his abysmal dexterity, but Lanore, Luanne and Hops Sr each were able to get an attack of opportunity on it (further getting under Lincoln's skin). In this state, it didn't take long for the group to finish the giant chef off.
"Well done, everyone." Lucinda said as she strolled into the room, with Luanne searching the now slain giant for loot.
"Yeah, but we're not done yet." Lanore commented, looking up at all the prisoners. "We still have prisoners to free." The raven haired wizard nodded, pulling a small sickle from her cloak, walking along with her dragonkin ally to start freeing the captives.
"Magic missile!" Lolavina exclaimed as she unleashed one final torrent of magical darts, downing the final fleeing kuo toa guard with ease. With the battle finally over, Clyvor took the opportunity to look around, breathing kind of heavy. The ground was littered with the corpses of fish people and ashes. The nearest prisoners were crying praises to them, while others were begging them to let them out.
"Glory to you all for a fine battle." Clyvor said as he put his hammer away. "Now let's try and find the keys and get these people out of here."
"Right." Lenina replied as she started searching through the bodies (albeit a little uneasy). Lolavina frowned, unhappy with being bossed around like that, but she did start looking. However, she refused to touch any of these hideous kuo toa or their ashes. As a result, the search took much longer than it should have, but they did eventually find a set of keys. After letting the slaves out of their holding cells, the group started to lead them back to the rendezvous point when a thought came to Lenina. "Um...Clyvor. How are we going to get all these people out of here?" She asked, gesturing toward the various humanoids behind them; enough to fill a city square. The dwarf frowned lightly as he glanced back at them, then to the gnome beside him.
"Truthfully, I haven't a clue, Lenina me lass." He whispered to her. "But I'm sure we'll think of something when we get back together with the others."
Soon enough, the two groups reunited in the room where Hops Sr had managed to enter the palace temple from; where all the fish folks mounts were. "It's grand to see you all again, and well no less." Clyvor said as he shook Lanore's hand and patted her on the back. "But now we got these folks out of here."
"Any suggestions?" Lolavina inquired.
"Well, I'm good with animals. Maybe I can convince some of these sharks and dolphins to help us?" Lanore pointed us.
"Perhaps we can be of some assistance as well." Came the voice of the tritons Lanore had freed, who had managed to pass through the large crowd of freed prisoners.
"How's that?"
"Our people can breathe underwater." The aquatic humanoids replied. "We can swim to our village and beseech their help."
"Hmmm. That would be most appreciated." Lucinda said.
"Right then. Lanore, you try to get their beasties on our side, so they don't anyone attempting to escape." Clyvor instructed, to which the ranger nodded and moved to the water's edge to work her animal handling magic. "While she has their attention, you lot should be safe to head out."
"That does make things much easier. Thank you, dry landers. We shall return as quick as we can." The tritons dive into the water and swim off like a shot. With them gone, the six adventurers decide to stand watch at the entrance to ensure they don't get bushwhacked. Thankfully, the guards never do come, so they were able to get a short rest in to recover lost hit points and magical energy. It took the tritons over an hour to swim to their village and back, during which Lanore managed to befriend the dolphins and pacify the sharks. With them and the gang of aquatic humans that returned to the temple, the group was able to send small groups of the prisoners out of the undersea holy palace of the kuo toa and up to a ship bound for Orintar. It took a few trips and nearly another hour, but they manage to get all the people they had managed to free to freedom.
"You know…" Luanne said, looking unusually pensive as she looked back toward the door. "It seems odd that, in a two hour time frame, we haven't seen any guards or heard any alarms."
"You have a good point. You would think someone would be aware of our escape." Lucinda mused, with a slight frown.
"...especially with all the fish people who...kinda got away when we were fighting…" Lolavina admitted sheepishly.
"Then this makes even less sense…" The roguish halfling said, looking even more disturbed by this news."Where are they then?"
"A good question indeed…" Clyvor replied, stroking his beard. "I dare say they would have gone to the priest...but then why haven't they been sent back after us?"
"They're probably waiting for us." Lanore reasoned, petting her amphibian associate's back.
"Then perhaps we should just go." The little cleric suggested simply.
"Lenina has a point. We saved a lot of people. We did our good deed, so let's-" Lolavina started to say.
"No." Clyvor interrupted her firmly
"We're not done here." Lucinda agreed softly. "The problem will simply continue if we leave now. They need to be stopped once and for all."
"And how exactly do you suggest we do that!?" Lolavina inquired with a sneer. "Kill them all!?" Lenina gasped in horror at that.
"No! We don't need to do that!"
"Right you are, Lenina. And we aren't, if we don't have to." Clyvor reassured her. "We just need to get one of them. The priest himself."
"...you can't be serious." The elf princess had a look of disbelief on her face.
"Actually, he's right." Luanne commented. "Take out their leader and the kuo toa will be disorganized. A power vacuum will occur. With luck, they'll clear out of here and be forced to reorganize elsewhere."
"Precisely. So, who's with us?" Clyvor asked, as Lucinda moved beside him.
"I am." Lanore said, her froggy friend croaking his agreement.
"Well...I suppose we should." Lenina said, though she didn't sound too pleased about doing even more killing, even if she wasn't directly responsible.
"Should be worth a big reward, so why not?" Luanne commented. All eyes turned to Lolavina again.
"...well, I do owe that jerk for planning to sacrifice me...ok, I'm in too…"
"Then what are we waiting for? Onward! To great victory!" Clyvor declared, striding boldly out of the room. Inspired, Lanore and Lenina ran after him, closely followed by Hops Sr. Lucinda simply smiled lightly as she followed them out. Luanne shrugged a little with a chuckle before she started after the rest of the group, with Lolavina taking up the rear, looking mighty cranky about the whole thing.
AN: I was planning to do the whole adventure in this one chapter, but I thought it would have taken too long to do so. Next chapter will be the finale of this first adventure. But before I go, here are the basic character set ups for each character currently playing.
Clyvor
Mountain Dwarf Eagle Totem Barbarian lvl 4
Str: 17 Dex: 10 Con: 18 Int: 13 Wis: 8 Cha: 12
Weapon: Warhammer Armor: None
Prof Skills: Intimidate, Survival
Luanne
Lightfoot Halfling Arcane Trickster Rogue lvl 4
Str: 10 Dex: 17 Con: 12 Int: 10 Wis: 13 Cha: 16
Weapons: Dagger, Darts, Blowgun Armor: Studded Leather
Prof Skills: Stealth, Acrobatics, Deception, Insight
Favored spells: Subtle pranking spells, tricky spells, Ice Knife, Chromatic Sphere
Lanore
Copper Dragonborn Beastmaster Ranger lvl 4
Str: 16 Dex: 15 Con: 13 Int: 8 Wis: 10 Cha: 13
Weapons: Scimitar, Light Crossbow Armor: Hide Armor
Prof Skills: Survival, Animal Handling, Investigation
Favored Enemy: Aberrations
Favored Spells: Animal based spells, nature spells
Animal Companion: Giant Frog (Hops Sr)
Lucinda
Half Elf Necromancer lvl 4
Str: 9 Dex: 14 Con: 11 Int: 18 Wis: 13 Cha: 16
Weapon: Sickle Armor: None
Prof Skills: Knowledge Arcana, Insight
Favored Spells: Necrotic damage spells, subtle spells, cold damage
Lolavina
High Elf Divine Soul Sorceress lvl 4
Str: 8 Dex: 16 Con: 10 Int: 13 Wis: 13 Cha: 17
Weapon: Club Armor: None
Prof Skills: Deception, Intimidation
Favored Spells: Enchantments, Fire damage, Flashy, Loud spells
Lenina
Forest Gnome Cleric of Sune (Light Domain) lvl 4
Str: 11 Dex: 13 Con: 15 Int: 10 Wis: 16 Cha: 14
Weapon: Mace Armor: Scale Mail
Prof Skills: Knowledge Religion, Medicine
Favored Spells: Support and Healing spells