Underwater Adventuring

In the latest session, the players again entered the caves to end the threat to the village of Drydale. They had an encounter with more of the amphibian creatures that the aboleth uses as slaves and then they were confronted by a flooded tunnel that led to what appeared to be an underground flooded cavern.

I knew when I adapted this adventure that the players had the magical means to breathe underwater so I was not overly concerned about this part of the adventure. In fact, the published adventure barely considers the possibility that the players have to fight underwater and did not include any rules notes for it. The final cavern holding the aboleth behind the troubles in Drydale had an air pocket and dry areas so it was expected that the players would only view the flooded tunnel as an obstacle.

But my players, based on what they had seen to this point, made the assumption that they would be fighting underwater, and that brought them up short. They asked about the effects of underwater fighting on melee, ranged attacks, and spells. I had not prepared for this so I had to scramble. The first thing that occurred to me was to look in the notes for the classic D&D adventure U3: The Final Enemy which I knew occurred entirely underwater. Consulting my copy I found numerous references to the Dungeon Master's Guide, pp. 56 "Underwater Adventuring." I immediately pulled up my digital copy and began reading off the pertinent notes to the players (there is really a lot packed into the original Dungeon Master's Guide!).

The Guide notes that melee combat is only possible with thrusting weapons (so no bludgeoning weapons) and it noted changes to many spells (fireball would not work). This meant that the dwarf companion they picked up had no useful weapons and had to borrow a spear, the cleric was basically reduced to a healer only, and both spell casters lost their favorite area attack spell (fireball). They did note that the fly spell worked very well underwater.

The players spent an hour debating what to do. The magic-user really wanted to polymorph the cleric and fighters into alligators or sharks - the players were less enthusiastic. Then the magic-user started thinking of outside help and I had to make some decisions. The magic-user has an efreet bound to a 1-year contract. When they negotiated this deal the efreet had tried to bargain with the location of a wizard's tower "full of spellbook". The magic-user asked the efreet to go to that tower and find a Conjure Elementals spell. Since I had never developed that possible adventure I had to rule a few things quickly. Was it unfair for the players to ask for a spell that they did not currently have? Would the spell be in the tower? Would the efreet be able to find it?

The efreet agreed to find the spell in return for his freedom and said he would be back in a week. So the players returned to Drydale to wait. I decided that the loss of the efreet (who they used all of the time in their adventures) was a sufficient trade for the spell. But I still wanted to leave it to the dice. So I created a quick table and asked the magic-user to roll.

Roll 1d6

1. Efreet is caught in a trap

2. Efreet is killed in a trap

3-4. Efreet finds a spellbook that must be studied (normal chance of learning)

5-6. Efreet finds a spell scroll

The player rolled a 4.

Session 106: The Fish God of the Drowning Caves

Lakima (human magic-user), Eathwund (human fighter), Alrix (couatl sorcerer), Domago (human cleric), Flora (elven thief), Fenris the Filch (human thief NPC).

The members of the Company of the Black Dragon are resting in the Inn of the village of Drydale. Recuperating from their recent battle with enthralled creatures in a nearby cave.

After resting for another day Lakima uses the spell dispel magic on Uther Stormwind. Domago casts dispel evil on the dwarf Kathrak. The spells work and both of the victims are freed from their enslavement. Neither, Uther nor Kathrak can recall much of what happened to them. Kathrak recalls only heading up into the hills and then the sense that he was drowning. Everything else is gone from his mind. Once the dwarf is filled in on what has happened, he insists on accompanying the group of adventurers.

The group travels back to the caves without incident. They enter and find the caves are empty. The bodies have been removed as Lakima observed in his scry. They find the bodies floating on the surface of a large pool of water. The pool appears to descend to a great depth but the top few feet are clogged with bodies. A strange blue glow can be seen deep in the water. They decide not to investigate it.

The tunnel continues until further progress is blocked by flooding. Flora and Fenris drop down into the flooded tunnel and report that it is three-feet deep. Everyone steps down into the water, only Kathrak struggles with this due to his height. After a short distance, the tunnel ends. But they can still see movement in the water. Before they can investigate, five amphibian creatures encountered earlier in the village rise up out of the water all around them. Two of the creatures are particularly large, and these two initiate the fight by spitting a glob of acid at Fenris and Flora. The two thieves are both hit and badly burned. Fenris and Flora retreat back into the middle of the pack.

At the rear of the group, Alrix comes under attack from two creatures. At the front, Kathrak and Eathwund fight three creatures. There is a long battle in which Alrix and Kathrak are each badly injured. They do manage to kill all five creatures. Lakima then raises the creatures as zombies. Domago moves about healing all members of the group. Everyone has been injured. Flora ducks under the water at the dead end and finds that the tunnel continues underwater for some distance. She returns and reports this.

Domago uses a page from the book of water breathing to give everyone the ability to breathe underwater. Flora again scouts the tunnel and this time she swims a greater distance. She finds that the tunnel is completely submerged and connects to a large cavern. She could not tell if the cavern had an air bubble. She does report back that she can see another four of the amphibian creatures.

Once Flora has returned and relayed what she found, the adventurers clamber out of the water and again stand on dryer land in the caves. They have a long debate on what to do next. Alrix and Lakima are concerned with the possibility of fighting underwater and which of their spells will work. Domago and Eathwund are concerned that they will struggle to fight with weapons underwater. Lakima suggests polymorphing some of the fighters into mermen or alligators. This suggestion is not met with a lot of enthusiasm. Lakima tentatively suggests trying to summon a demon. But this is quickly argued down. Lakima finally suggests that they obtain a conjure elementals spell and summon a water elemental. It is pointed out that finding such a powerful spell will be near impossible. But Lakima suggests that he has a way. He takes out the efreeti bottle and summons Khisa.

Khisa appears, “Ahh, still in these damp, moldy caves I see,” he says with disdain. Lakima reminds Khisa that when he first freed him from the bottle, Khisa tried to bargain for his freedom with the location of a powerful mage’s library.

“If you obtain a conjure elementals spell for me, I will free you from our contract,” Lakima tells Khisa.

Khisa immediately agrees and tells Lakima he will return in a week.

Once Khisa has flown off on his task, Lakima suggests they return to the village. Karthrak is not pleased with this suggestion. He asks for a vote to decide whether to enter the cave now or return to the village. Only Domago votes with Karthak. The dwarf reluctantly agrees.

The adventurers return to Drydale. Their return takes longer because of the slow pace of the amphibian zombies. The citizens of Drydale are terrified by the appearance of the amphibians even after Lakima explains that they are zombies under his control. He sets the zombies to guard the village from further attacks. The party settles down in the local inn. Lakima does pay for two locals to deliver a message to his wife in Edgerton. Assuring her that while he is held up, he will return in time to travel to Dolmvay for the Yule Festival.

A week later as promised, Khisa returns in a blaze of flames. Khisa steps before the table Lakima is sitting at in the Inn and drops a thin, black spellbook on the table. He bows. Lakima casts read magic and peruses the spellbook. It is called Deamonne’s Water Lexicon and holds six spells that this long-forgotten wizard felt would be useful for underwater exploration. Lakima discovers that the most powerful spell in the lexicon is conjuration of elementals. Khisa waits expectantly. Lakima tells Khisa that “a wizard always keeps his word” and he burns the contract binding Khisa. Khisa grows to his true form and shape and looms over the table, crushing the efreeti bottle in one hand, then he winks and vanishes in a cloud of smoke.

Lakima spends that day and night carefully studying the conjuration spell. By the next day, he triumphantly tells everyone that he has mastered it. They have another discussion about tactics. They decide that Lakima will cast fly spells on Eathwund and Karthrak rather than polymorphing them. Domago also declines to be polymorphed citing that he will be needed to cast healing spells.

The adventurers set out for the caverns for the fourth time. They arrive and descend making their way to the submerged tunnel. Lakima tells everyone that he needs to maintain concentration to control the water elemental he plans to summon. He will remain in the dry caverns guarded by the five zombies. The rest of the adventurers will push on to confront whatever evil entity is behind the attacks on Drydale. He casts fly on Eathwund and Karthrak first and then Domago uses the Book of Water Breathing to give everyone the water breathing ability. Alrix changes self into the form of a sea serpent.

The adventurers swim under into the submerged tunnel. Eathwund and Karthrak find they are able to propel themselves through the water at high speed with their thoughts alone. Only Alrix is able to keep up with the pair, and the rest of the group is soon left behind. Eathwund, Alrix, and Kathrak enter the large cavern and wait underwater. They look about and realize that there is a surface about 10 feet over their heads. The cavern bottom is beyond their sight. Surfacing they look at a large cavern. A narrow ledge juts out from the walls encircling the cavern. Atop a 10-foot-high ledge above that ledge stands a female mage. Below her, four of the amphibian creatures stand on guard. As soon as he arrives, Fenris pulls himself out of the water on the opposite side of the pool from the mage.

Meanwhile, Lakima summons a water elemental and instructs it to follow the orders of his companions. He sends it quickly through the flooded tunnels to the cavern. The water elemental arrives and bursts to the surface like a serpent made of water. Alrix changes self again, this time into his true form and he flies toward the creatures. Eathwund and Kathrak fly through the air and land right before the creatures. Domago and Flora swim for the ledges near the creatures and narrowly miss being caught up in a large glob of green muck that bobs to the surface of the pool where the group first surfaced.

The female mage tries using hold person and telekinesis spells to throw Eathwund and Alrix into the pool. She fails. Alrix yells for everyone to concentrate their attacks on the woman and he blasts her with magic missiles. Kathrak yells out in anger, telling everyone not to hurt the woman. She is his companion, Hannah Stormwind.

At this moment an enormous primeval creature emerges in the center of the pool. Roughly fish shaped but with many long tentacles. It attacks Fenris and then Alrix as the couatl flies over it. Alrix finishes off the mage with magic missiles and then yells for everyone to attack the new threat. The creature reaches out for Alrix with mind powers but he fights it off. The water elemental clashes with the creatures and the two writhe about in the water.

Eathwund manages to kill one of the amphibian creatures. Domago climbs up onto the ledge and binds Hannah and then heals her. He calls out to Kathrak that the woman will live. Kathrak nods in thanks. The amphibians dive into the water to help the fish creature and attack Alrix. Their attacks are successful and Alrix is forced to drop one of them he was constricting to fly higher out of range of their attacks. The fish creature by this point decides to submerge deep under the water to avoid attacks. The water elemental is sent after it.

Eathwund and Kathrak join in the melee. The water elemental and spells from Alrix finish off the creature but the amphibians keep fighting. They manage to disrupt the water elemental to the point that it collapses. Back in the dry area, Lakima senses the water elemental fall and he summons a second water elemental. He sends this elemental through the submerged tunnels to help. It emerges and helps the rest of the adventurers kill the remaining amphibians.

Kathrak flies to Hannah’s side and is relieved to see that she is conscious and no longer enslaved. She remembers nothing of what happened. Alrix instructs the water elemental to recover any treasure from the bottom of the pool. It splashes up onto the ledge leaving a scattering of coins, gems, and magic items lying about. Alrix tells everyone that he has not seen one of these fish creatures in a long time. They are called aboleth. They are of malign and alien intelligence and live deep in the earth. Alrix swims back to the dry area and tells Lakima that he can dismiss the water elemental.

The rest of the group picks up the treasure and packs it away into their packs.