Live streamed and uploaded every week on YouTube. Join us live on Fridays at 7:30 pm Pacific/10:30 pm Eastern!
Original character art by Jimmy McClure.
Music by Kevin MacLeod.
Chat with us in the Official Discord Server.
Support the channel via Patreon!
Previously on Call from the Deep
Starring:
Gotwald Ironhorn, level 5 minotaur Rune Knight Fighter
Mac, level 5 tortle Drakewarden Ranger
Savra Akkedis, level 5 lizardfolk School of Necromancy Wizard
Torrel, level 5 kenku Fathomless Warlock Pact of the Amulet/Fighter
In the depths of the shipwreck lair the party learned of an impending threat to Neverwinter. But they still have one final loose end on the island of Gunderlun to tie up: the old mine.
After a long rest and a level up to five, the Zoo Crew explores the third notable location on the west side of the island, Berranzo Mine.
Tracks lead to and from Fiskrbak, the nautiloid, the sea, and the mine, making it part of this complex network of evil trafficking.
The entrance is partially collapsed, but Mac’s loyal drake Cheese finds a safe path to squeeze through. Inside they find an entrance cavern with a pair of sturdy doors.
Heedless of any danger, Gotwald throughs the doors open, setting off a magical alarm that rings throughout the cave.
Torrel eldritch blasts the doors for good measure.
The party moves into the doorway and down stone steps, reaching a gigantic cavern dominated by a central excavated pit. The bottom of the pit, some 60 feet down, is full of water.
On the right is a smaller manmade tunnel, and emerging from the tunnel are a trio of creatures.
Two are mutated humanoids that look vaguely fish-like, with tentacles, gills, fangs, baranacles, and other marine features.
Between them is a tall, thin humanoid that hovers off the ground. It has four large tentacles in place of a mouth, and large, alien-like eyes. A mind flayer!
The mind flayer speaks in an odd cadence and refers to itself in the third person, Thilliosk, Thilliosk’s eye is damaged, and the party recalls an eye-device in the shipwreck lair that was watching over the sahuagin, and which Gotwald destroyed.
Thilliosk isn’t happy to see them, but not surprised. He activates his mind blast ability, but half the party makes the INT saving throw (even Cheese!), frustrating the mind flayer. He decides to field test his latest experiment, throwing a mutant cannister of ooze at a stalactite in the middle of the cavern.
The ooze bubbles and the rock broils until it opens a toothy maw and sprouts long tendrils, creating a roper!
Thilliosk teleports away as more of the mutant sea creatures rush out of the door, and the fight is on.
Savra uses her new summon undead spell to get a powerful skeletal creature in play, while Mac uses Cheese to help dodge against the wave of sea spawn.
Torrel is grabbed by one of the roper’s tendrils and dragged through the air, prompting Mac to shoot it. Torrel is freed, but Mac momentarily forgets that Torrel the kenku can’t actually fly. The poor warlock/fighter plummets 60 feet into the water below, nearly dropping unconscious from the damage.
Savra uses her hand-familiar to snap Gotwald out of the stunned mind blast stopor, and Gotwald uses his cloud giant rune to save Torrel from another tendril grab by redirecting the attack at a sea spawn.
But then he’s grabbed by another tendril and hauled toward the roper.
Gotwald doesn’t mind, however. He embiggens himself and tries to attack the roper head-on.
As Torrel pulls himself from the dark lake (avoiding whatever may be lurking in there), Mac and Savra have their hands full dealing with the three remaining sea spawn.
Mac unleashes several arrow attacks while Savra nails a powerful shatter spell. At one point the fourth sea spawn (the one wrapped by the roper) is dropped into the lake, and Mac finishes it with an arrow through the head.
As the last sea spawn falls, Gotwald pulls of an impressive feat: he uses his stone giant rune to lull the roper into a dreamy stupor, then plants his feet on the ceiling and rips the roper off!
The minotaur and the monster fall into the lake below. Gotwald rolls a nat 20 on the DEX save, transferring all the fall damage to the roper. It has no swim speed, doesn’t float, and remains in its dreamy stupor for 1 minute.
Gotwald scrambles out of the water, grabs Torrel, and the party backs away from the pit as the roper sinks beneath the dark waters. Well done!
There’s no sign of the mind flayer, and the mine has been thoroughly ransacked and picked over. In fact, there’s evidence that there were a lot of people here, with trash and random bits of weapons and ammo everywhere.
The dark waters even have floating pieces of wood and equipment, as if entire ships were once parked in here, despite the only way out being beneath the waves.
A backroom laboratory reveals a half-mutated creature. This mine served as a warehouse and staging ground for both equipment and creating these monstrous shock troops. Sadly, unlike the shipwreck lair, there are no intact survivors left alive.
The Zoo Crew grab some potions and treasures and make their way back outside. They reconnect with the survivors from the wreck, and begin the trek back to Gundbarg to report the good news — and the bad.
MVPC – Gotwald
Live post-session discussion:
Live streamed and uploaded every week on YouTube. Join us live on Fridays at 7:30 pm Pacific/10:30 pm Eastern!
Support my channel via Patreon!
RogueWatson 