Upon A Darklake

The morning finds the group well rested in the kuo-toa village of Sloobludop. They have slept in simple mud and reed huts but at least they felt safe amid the odd kuo-toa. The high priest of The Sea Mother, "Ploop" ask H if he is still willing to pose as a sacrifice to the Deep Father, whom his daughter is now high priestess to. H is willing but he must first have a cigarette, or something that is akin to one soon. A kuo-toa is sent out to retrieve several weeds which the kuo-toa offer to H. The weed is foul smelling but when rolled and fashioned into a cigarette H finds the flavor not unpleasant. In fact, he feels much stronger and faster than he normally and is charged with a sense of well being.

"Ploop" escorts H through the village until they approach the shrine of the Deep Father, a stark contrast to the statue of the Sea Mother. This altar is several sea creatures, two manta rays and an octopus bound together to create some horrific hybrid. It is pinned down with stakes and offerings of blood are poured over its body. Numerous kuo-toa begin to emerge in front of the altar and several lay flat on the ground and then on top of each other until a small mound of kuo-toa is created.

A kuo-toa puffed out with indignant pride strides out and up on top of the mound of kuo-toa. "Ploop" begins to address her but without the aid of Stool the exchange is lost on those in the group near enough to hear. H confidently strides forward until he is at the foot of the kuo-toa mound. There he pulls out his guns with a flourish and fires twice at the priestess. Recoiling back but not killed she begins to chant spells which try to work their way into H's mind. Resisting the priestess's spell, H fires again and Thokk who has been watching from a slight distance now joins in and throws his axe at the kuo-toa priestess. He misses the first time but summons his weapon back to his hands and throws again. This time the axe finds purchase and the priestess is knocked back. She begins to chant a new spell.

Soon the waters at the shore begin to rapidly recede back into the depths of Darklake, exposing the timbers of the docks and the muddy bottom below. Most of the kuo-toa now are chanting and dancing round the shrine in alternating circles. The group can no longer distinguish between the kuo-toa following the Sea Mother or those of the Deep Father. Perhaps it doesn't matter. There rises a huge noise of rushing water and a monstrous below of rage from somewhere out in the inky blackness of the Darklake.

Each of the group is trying to fend off multiple kuo-toa as they now jump and bite at the group in retaliation against the attack on their priestess. Karis moves to one side of the foul shrine and casts a spell and summons a plague of locusts. The locusts swarm a huge area eating into the flesh of anything in its wake, friend and foe alike. Thokk and H are able to retreat out of the swarm but not before sustaining a huge amount of damage to themselves.  Azalea is not so fortunate, she falls as the wave of insects chew enough of her flesh until she falls unconscious.

The Demon Rampage

It is then that the receeded water returns in a small tsunami. The six foot wave that rushes back into the village washes up the dead bodies, including that of Azalea but the other kuo-toa are able to swim to safety. Azalea regains consciousness, covered in dead kuo-toa and looking up into the face of Karis who has just healed her. Everyone then looks towards Darklake as they all hear the sounds of massive foot falls in the water approaching the shore.  Whatever it is that is approaching is too far out to be seen in the black of the Underdark so Thokk sends off a fireball in the direction of the sound. The fireball does not find any target but as it flies off into the distance it illuminates a vision of horror that is approaching them.

Lit by the brief and fiery blast of the fireball spell, everyone sees the massive figure of a two headed demon with long tentacle arms. Towering over the village the creature begins to kill and destroy everything in its path. The kuo-toa are mass of confused activity. Some run to their perceived god only to be picked up and tossed tens of feet to their death or ripped apart between its many tentacles. Karis screams to Sarith, the drow, asking what is it. Sarith yells back that, from its appearance it seems like it is the demon Demogorgon from legends of old. The scene before them is so frighteningly beyond anything his imagination can conceive, Thokk, stares up at the demon and begins to giggle then laugh, uncontrollably.

The group does not debate. They run.

They begin to run and Karis performs a ritual, raising dozens of kuo-toa to aid the group as the undead army runs ahead of the group to act as a shield. Azalea is forced to push Thokk along as all he can do is continue to stare at the demon and laugh. As they run to the only exit they know, the one they had entered the village from, they pass the small inlet where the kuo-toa boats are moored. Eldith is already jumping into one and begins to paddle furiously out towards Darklake, away from the demon. H sees this and runs and jumps into her already moving boat. The others, seeing the boat leaving also board boats. Thokk and Azalea, who is carrying Stool grab one boat and begin paddling. Karis, Bupido and Sarith jump into another. Karis's kuo-toa undead army enter the water and begin pushing the boat, following the others.

They steer their boats in the direction that takes them the farthest away from the onslaught as fast as possible. It is not long before the sounds dwindle and they are surrounded by the darkness. Darklake is not perturbed by any winds or movement where they are so the surface is black glass smooth. They cannot tell north from south. There are no prevailing winds. There are only the tiny points of light from distant growths of glowing fungus growing on the ceiling of the enormous cavern, reminding the surface dwellers of stars in their night sky.

Catch Of The Day

They row for what seems hours. Eldith who has done all the rowing in the boat she shares with H, finally gives out and sits down. She complains that they don't even know where they are going. It looks the same in every direction. Black.

The others in the group slow and converse. Each gives where they think they should go but it is limited to what destinations they know of and who can get them there. Sarith, the drow, believes they should return Stool to his home back in Neverlight Grove. Stool happily supports this idea but H says that perhaps Stool should accompany the group a little longer. Without Stool, most of them are unable to communicate with most of the inhabitants of the Underdark. Stool shrinks back down in visible disappointment. Bupido says that he can get them to Gracklstugh, the duergar city. There they can obtain weapons and perhaps other necessary items. The weapons idea sells it to the group and they ask Bupido to head them towards Gracklstugh. Bupido sits down to meditate upon the direction of their destination.

While waiting the others take stock of what they have. They have a few weapons, including some drow poisoned bolts, which Karis takes to surreptitiously adding to H's water that she hands him. Fortunately for H his constitution is healthy enough to ward off the poison, leaving him oddly tingly. Some of the kuo-toa who are now pushing the boats have nets tied to their reed belts, which H and Thokk take to removing. H is able to attack a net to one of his bolts with rope he has. Thokk uses his net and rope to fish. He tosses his newly fashioned fishing net over the side of the boat.

It is not long before Thokk feels the pull of his net and he begins to pull it back into the boat. It takes all of his massive strength to pull but when he finishes pulling his catch back into the boat he sees a massive manta-ray like creature with sharp teeth and a barbed flailing tail. He tries to hammer it to death but it is trashing in the boat enough to rock it, leaving Thokk to uselessly flail his axe.

Suddenly the boat is rocked violently from other similar creatures in the water. The water is teaming with them and Stool, who is sitting in a makeshift sling across Azalea's back is tossed overboard. Stool screams in everyone's mind as he is attacked by the ixitxachtil in the water. Karis sends all of his undead kuo-toa to the aid of Stool. They form a mass of bodies around Stool and lift him up and out of the water, guiding him back into the boat where Karis sits. The churning water, alive with the creatures ripping apart the bodies of the animated kuo-toa.

The creatures then begin to attack the boat with their fellow within it. The jolts against the boat are enough to eject first Thokk, then Azalea as he pulls the boat askew re-entering it. They finally are able to work together to manage re-entering the boat with no one being tossed out into the dangerous waters.

With their few remaining kuo-toa pushing the boats, the group moves swiftly on.

Against The Current

They continue on, this time Eldith forcing H to do his part of the rowing. H happily takes up the job and begins to loudly sing maritime songs. He continues, even after the insistence of stopping from Karis, until some hours later, Thokk yells at him to stop. He hears something. Once the group is silent, most of them can hear it. The sound of water rushing. The water around their boats begins to form waves and chop and they are moving at a faster speed.

Karis moves his few kuo-toa around the the front of the boat where they push back halting the progress of the boat. H, seeing this grabs his hand crossbow, fitting with his rope and net, securing one end to his boat and shoots the bolt into Karis's boat. His boat is now moored to Karis's. Azalea and Thokk's boat continues to gain speed. Stool waves goodbye to the others as he speeds away towards the falls.

Karis sends off both a shower of dancing lights and his sprite to scout ahead. She reports back that it is a waterfall of about 50-60 feet, no rocks can be seen below. Azalea and Thokk paddle madly but their progress continues towards the falls. Finally, Azalea is able to stick her oar into something below the boat and she is able to anchor her side of the boat. Thokk follows suit. They sit their anchored but stuck as the groups shout back and forth to each other, trying to find a way out of this mess.

Azalea and Thokk finally come to an agreement. They lift their oars and prepare themselves. The boat quickly picks up speed and they are flung out and over the falls. Thokk jumps as far as he can away from the boat and falls. Azalea and Stool brace themselves within the boat. Each lands hard and hurtful but they survive.

Yelling up to the others that they are all right, the rest of the party decides to follow the same action. H and Eldith are next over the falls. They surface hurt but alive. Bupido, Karis and Sarith prepare themselves next. Karis casts fly on herself and sails gracefully over the fall while Sarith casts levitate and slowly descends back into the boat. Bupido, still in his position, standing at the prow of the boat, simply continues to stand in that position, trusting in his powers to see him over the falls. At the bottom, still in the boat he stands again, incredibly damaged but does not show any signs of pain to the others. Though he is bleeding from his ears eyes and nose.

A Warm Duergar Welcome

Not long after, Thokk has to quiet H again. This time they hear another boat approaching. Sending dancing lights and the sprite again, Karis gets a vision of several dour looking grey duergar in a boat before a spear ends the life of the sprite. They hail the duergar and after some poor attempts of persuasion, convince the duergar of their intentions to visit Gracklstugh, for means of purchasing supplies. Soon after they begin to see the glow of the fires and furnaces of Gracklstugh. The smoke from furnaces and smelting is harsh. Both H and Thokk find it hard to breath and exert themselves.

Bupido is able to navigate them up to some secluded docks where the group hides their damaged but valuable boats behind some rocks away from the more trafficked docks. Once entering the open part of the city, they see several shops and smiths. As they move through these quarters, following Bupido, they loose sight of the deep gnome and cannot find him again.

H is able to find a duergar who is willing to let him forge a new firearm in return for teaching the duergar the craft and a 150 gold pieces. Leaving H behind to forge his weapon, the others find refuge in what passes for an inn, here in the duergar city, which allows non-duergar to enter.

They've arrived in a city full of evil dark dwarves. Is this much better than life with the drow?