A/N: And here we are! Time to continue deeper into the tunnels beneath the mountain.
Disclaimer: I don't own Dungeons and Dragons. I only own my original ideas.
Chapter 59: The Aquarium
Once everyone was ready, we set out south down the corridor, and entered the next chamber. We were looking out and down into an enormous chamber defined by terraced steps that ringed the entire area and descended towards a central enclosure. A few feet south of the door, water lapped at the edge of the stone floor. Looking to the side, we could see that the ring of the terrace that lies beyond was a ten-foot-deep ring of water held in place by a nearly transparent wall. Another of these watery steps in the terrace was somewhat lower than the first; at the level between these, the terrace step were dry, but the area was still enclosed by a glassy wall like the others.
As we stepped into the room, we could see 6 large crayfish swimming around behind the barrier. We could see other creatures on the lower levels, and on the lowest tier was an exit door. We searched all around the tier of the room we were on, but there was no access point to the lower levels.
"I'll bet there's something of intrest at the bottom of this chamber, but we don't have a way through," said Narcrath, "well, there is one way, and that's breaking through these glass walls and fighting our way to the bottom. I'd bet whoever build this place had a way though, but we don't have access to that method".
"Ready for this?" asked Charles, "okay, here we go".
Charles brought his sword down against the glass, breaking it and sending the water spilling out over the floor. The giant crayfish started towards us, and we readied to fight. The first crayfish went after Narcrath, its first claw missing, but it caught him with his second attack. Lydratir took aim at one of the crayfish and fired off two arrows, but it didn't fall. The next crayfish went after Krisyra, catching her with its claws and grappling her. She glowed with magical power, and transformed, becoming a huge reptilian creature. I recognized it from one of Quoros' books: a Tyrannosaurus Rex. Her transformation freed her from the crayfish's claws, and she landed with a mighty roar. A crayfish tried to grab Charles, but it couldn't find purchase on his armor. Another crayfish approached Charles, but to the same effect. Narcrath broke free from the caryfish's grasp, and blasted it with lightning. Another crayfish went after T-rex Krisyra, pinching her with its claw, but she simply shook it off. The crayfish that Lydratir had wounded came after him, but it missed. I moved over to help Lydratir, tearing at the ceryfish with my claws and taking it down. Charles swung low with his greatsword, knocking one of the crayfish off its feet, and then striking it again.
The crayfish near Narcrath swung at him but he easily dodged its claws. Lydratir switched targets, aiming at one of the crayfish near Charles, and loosed two more arrows, weakening the crayfish. A crayfish attacked Krisyra again, but it didn't even phase her. T-Rex Krisyra lashed out, biting down on one of the crayfish and holing it in her jaws. She then swung her tail at the other crayfish near her, cracking its carapace. The one of the crayfish near Charles tried to grab him but missed, but this time the other one was more successful. It grabbed him in its claws, ready to try and crush him. Narcrath pulled one of the stars from the colloar of his robws and seven bolts of magical energy spread out, taking out one of the wounded crayfish and weakening the one nearest to him One of the crayfish pinched Krisyra again to little effect. I moved over to assist Narcrath, and with an unexpected surge of strength, finished it off with a single bite. I then went of help Charles, but I missed. Charles slipped free from the crayfish's claws, and finished it off with one decisive blow.
Lydratir took aim at the last crayfish on the ground, hitting once, and weakening it further. The crayfish in Krisyra's jaws struggled but it couldn't break free. Krisyra bit down again, finishing off this foe, With one swing of her tail, she finished off the last of the crayfish.
We kept going, making our way down to the sandy ground of the next level, as we entered this area, six giant scorpions emerged from the sand, and thrust us back into battle.
I reacted the fastest, attacking one of the scorpions and tearing at it with by claws, my second blow striking particularly hard. Krisyra T-Rex stomped forwards, savagely biting down on one of the scorpions while slamming a second with her tail. One of the scorpions scuttled towards Charles. He deflected one calw, two claws, and then the strike of its tail before using its momentum agaist it in a retaliatory strike. The scorpion nearest me swiped with its first calws which missed, but I was caught by the second, and was unable to evade the strike of its tail. Its venom poured into my veins, but I shook of the worst of the effects. Narcrath summoned up an orb of lightning, and fired it. It split in two, finishing off the one near me and wounding another. The scorpion Narcrath had wounded came after me, but I dodged each part of its attack. One of the scorpions approach Lydratir, and it too missed its attacks. Lydratir drew his rapier, and stabbed it into the scorpion near him wounding it badly. The scorpion at Krisyra's feet latched onto her with its claws, but its tail couldn't pierce her hide. Meanwhile, the scorpion in her mouth tried to wriggle free, but it was unable. Charles raised his greatsword, and finished off the scorpion nearest to him.
I swiped at the scorpion near me, wounding it further before finishing it off with a fierce bite... and spat the piece of scorpion out afterwards. Krisyra T-Rex bit down again of the scorpion in her jaws, finishing it off. She then bashed the scorpion at her feet with her tail, leaving it badly wounded. Narcrath summoned another chromatic orb, and again it split into two projectiles, finishing off the last of the scorpions.
We continued down, arring next to a water filled tank on the third level. Inside the tank we could see strange creatures with jaws and claws like a lion, but the tails of fish. Before we could do anything these creatures slammed against the wall of their tank, breaking out and partially flooding this level. The four monstrosities began swimming towards us swiftly.
I reacted the fastest again, exhaling a blast of flame and caught two of them, the embers drifting around me. Narcrath smirked, and fired off a large swirling sphere of clouds and lightning. Two of the creatures were buffeted back by the wind, and one wa struck by lightning. One of the creatures swam towards Lydratir, sinking its fangs into him, but he deflected its claw attacks. Krisyra T-Rex stomped up to the enemies, savagely biting down on one as it roared in pain from the sheer severity of the attack. She then bashed the one that had been struck by lightning with her tail, leaving it reeling. One of the creatures swam towards Krisyra, biting and clawing at her. She seemed to be wearing down a bit, but with still going. Charles moved up to assist Krisyra, hacking at the creature that had just attacked her and pushing it away. The creature in Krisyra's jaws struggled, but the grasp of her jaw was too strong. Lydratir struck back at the creature nearest to him, deftly driving his rapier into its hide and leaving it wounded. The creature at Krisyra's feet snapped and clawed at her, but she seemed to still be okay.
I moved up to assist Lydratir, salshing away at the creature troubling him. Narcarth moved to help me as well, finishing off the one creature while another bolt of lightning struck out from the storm sphere at the creature that had been knocked back. Krisyra bit down again agaist, the creature in her jaws, finishing it off. She then bashed the foe near her with her tail again, the water turning red. The creature that had been thrown backswam forwards, aiming at Narcrath and catching him with one claw. Laydratir took aim with his rapier, and finished off the last foe of this level.
"One last level, and we can reach the exit to this place," said Lydratir, "Ready, everyone?"
We readied ourselves, and decended to the final floor. Our foe this time: a trio of Mantacores with clipped wings, depriving them of flight. They snarled at us, shying back slightly at my presence, and we readied for battle once more.
Lydratir reacted the quickest, drawing his bow and placing two arrows into one of the mantacores, wounding it badly in one attack. Narcrath called upon his magic, extending it to cover all three of the Mantacores, casuing all of them to shrink. One of the mantacores tried to fire its tail spikes at me, but its apparent fear of me and its sudden change in stature caused its spikes to either miss or bounce uselessly off my hide. I moved up to this same mantacore, slashing at it with my claws and leaving it on its last legs. Krisyra (who was still a T-Rex) moved up to the other two mantacores, catching one between her jaws and biting down, badly wounding it. She then slammed the other one with her tail, leaving it reeling as well. The mantacore by Krisyra's feet fled, only to be struck by her tail again as it ran. It tried to retaliate, peppering her with its tail spikes, but, they were little more than an annoyance. The mantacore in T-Rex Krisyra's mouth tried to break free, but the magic affecting it sapped its strength, making its efforts futile. Charled approached the mantacore that had fled Kirsyra, and finished it off.
Lydratir come over, and finished off the badly wounded mantacore near me, and Krisyra finished off the Mantacore between her jaws. A little while later, her tansformation wore off, and once she was back to her normal elven self, she immediately grabbed her waterskin and washed out her mouth.
"Well, that was something," said Krisyra.
"Something new you picked up?" I asked.
"You could say that," said Krisyra, "last time we were resting, I had the feeling that spell might end up being useful. It seems my intuition was correct. I'll remember how effective that was for the future".
"I notice you were behaving less like… you, and more animalistic," I said, "some side effect?"
"I suppose so," said Krisyra, "while using that spell, my mind is fully that of the animal, but I can still remember who my allies and my enemies are".
"Well, I'm impressed," said Narcrath, "we'd have had a much tougher fight down here without your quick thinking".
The last few steps led us down the the exit to this chamber, and ahead was the door to another chamber, waiting for us.
A/N: And that's why Polymorph is an awesome spell. The dice were largely in the heroes favor today, especially on Kirsyra's Concentration checks. Not that that was a hard roll. seeing that as long as the roll was 6 or greater (T-Rex has a +4 Con Modifier), she'd maintain her concentration. In any case, our heroes are swiftly approaching the end of this dungeon. What more will they need to faced down the get out? See you then.