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Original character art by Jimmy McClure.
Music by Kevin MacLeod.
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Previously on Call from the Deep

Starring:
Gotwald Ironhorn, level 12 minotaur Rune Knight Fighter
Mac, level 12 tortle Drakewarden Ranger/Rogue
Savra Akkedis, level 12 lizardfolk School of Necromancy Wizard
Torrel, level 12 kenku Fathomless Warlock Pact of the Amulet/Fighter

Torrel rushes toward Vestress’ calls for reinforcements, but it’s Borgas who acts first. The loyal fish-man exclaims how honored he is to fight by Mac’s side. He shoves the paralyzed tortle away from the enemies, then rasies his gun and screams, taunting them as best he can.

The automaton soldiers turn their attention toward him, and one nearly cuts him down. 

Mac’s drake Cheese grabs the critically wounded Borgas and drags him back down the hallway.

Torrel sees an opening and casts hunger of Hadar at the hallway, slowing and damaging the soldiers, and limiting their vision.

The mind flayer mech suit, however, simply flies over everything, and closes in to strike the kenku.

Torrel nimbly dodges, but is nearly forced into his own spell when the mind flayer inside casts dissonant whispers. The warlock maintains concentration, forcing Luzgrigaul to simply cast dispel magic to end it.

Meanwhile, the other mind flayer wraps its tentacles around Gotwald, but his enlarged state prevents it from stunning him. Gotwald responds by axing him in the face, ending the encounter. The pair spend several turns dashing back toward Mac and the others.

By the time they arrive, the soldiers are all destroyed! Mac had finally shrugged off the hold person spell, stood up, and breathed his fiery drake’s breath, destroying the damaged automatons in a single blow.

However, Borgas had gone down, prompting Cheese to administer a potion of greater healing to save their loyal NPC (who does get to roll death saves!).

Everything changes once Gotwald and Savra arrive. The fighter hits the mech suit with a critical strike, knocking it prone, then pins it to the ground. The suit fights back but Gotwald is stronger.

Then Savra casts knock. 

The clever spell unlocks the mech suit, and she instructs her zombie to open the hatch, revealing the mind flayer inside.

She attempts to intimidate it into surrendering, but Luzgrigual refuses, unleashing a mind blast at her and Gotwald.

They both make the save, demoralizing the villainous creature.

Mac rips the mind flayer out of the suit, and Torrel summons Bigby’s hand to pin it to the ground. Savra then climbs inside the mech suit!

Gotwald gets a few good swings in with the axe. Vestress explains that with her magical masking, Zellix’Phor cannot “see” or influence their attendants, nor can they hear their master.

Luzgrigual finally surrenders. But Vestress suggests they destroy him anyway. “We only need his head.”

As an attendant, he’s one of top Generals of the colony, and a true believer in their mission of conquest and enslavement.

The party briefly grapples over the moral implications of executing a captive.

Then Savra steps on him.

It doesn’t quit kill him, prompting Gotwald to decapitate the creature.

The party loot the workshop, yielding some spiffy mechanized fist gauntlets for Gotwald, and several needles with mysterious fluids.

Vestress explains they are restorative, but may have side effects for non-mind flayers.

Mac takes one before his own analysis is complete, and heals up to nearly full hit points, plus the bless spell!

But, sure enough, his arms elongate into flimsy limbs, like tentacles.

After a short rest, the party heads back to the control room door, and uses the head to get inside.

Despite being a mind flayer (or ex-mind flayer, anyway), Vestress cannot make heads or tails of the advanced security console. She suggests they destroy it, which would shut down all the doors, lights, and prisoner cubes.

Savra examines the wires and connections, and figures out how to only open the doors they need – the storage room (containing the final augmenter brain), and the wall of force that holds Kazin, war hero of our Storm King’s Thunder campaign.

Kazin drops to the ground half-blind, shivering, and confused. Gotwald is gentle and reverent, and eventually Kazin’s wits return. They find his equipment in the storage room and destroy the final brain. Kazin summons his psi-glaive and agrees to help them, though he’s clearly not happy that they’re working with an illithid lich (he also doesn’t yet know Torrel is a Fathomless warlock). Awkward!

With the fourth brain destroyed, everyone hears a rumbling from above, and Vestress stumbles backward. She knows that Zellix’Phor’s control is perilously weak, and the kraken is beginning to fight back.

Now is the time to strike, and take the fight directly to the elder brain!

Unfortunately, the brain is still physically grafted onto the kraken, and won’t go down without a fight.

MVPC – Savra

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