Rodrigo (Swashbuckler 4)
Awg Wahmn (Calmonari 4)
Torak (Cleric 5)
Kwinsea (Aquamancer 5), with familiar Hermes and henchman Jaz (Elf 2)
Pahu-Mahu (Thief 3)
The party spent the rest of the day and night resting and recovering in the village. There was a lengthy discussion regarding what to do next. Cut their loses and take their fallen and wounded out of the crater and back to the ship; or brave the kopru and make one last push into the mud caverns to look for more loot. While the ripe smell of rotting Abdul pushed the party initially towards 'option a', they decided in the end to finish their exploration of the mud-pits. That way Abdul el Abdul's sacrifice would not be in vain. Or something like that.
The party pushed off in their dugout canoes the next morning, joined by one of the only non-geriatric tribe members; Pahu-Mahu. They crossed the lake and passed through the upper temple without event, finding themselves once more on the wide mineral terrace overlooking the hellish cavern. Worried about losing someone to the charms of the kopru, they party roped together like mountaineers before proceeding further. Based on Pretty Bird's previous scouting mission, they headed around the first mud-pit to another series of mineral terraces along the south wall. Being extra cautious, Rodrigo started to hammer spikes into the mineral crust for tie-offs. The party quickly stopped that practice when the crust cracked beneath their feet, threatening them with a dunking in the boiling mud. The instead opted to run s quickly as possible past the mud pits and up onto the terrace. Just as they paused to start climbing, however, Torak felt the tell-tale tug at his brain, which told the party the kopru was about. They turned at bay, searching the adjacent mud pit for their enemy. Of it they could see no sign, so everyone climbed up and proceeded to their destination.
These terraces were quite extensive, and at the highest point a column of steam was seen rising into he air. Approaching closer, the source proved to be a bubbling pool of milky mineral-ly water. Too opaque to see through, Pahu-Mahu and Jaz poked into the depths with pole-arms. They found it was just over 10' deep, but there seemed to be another exit to one side at the bottom. No one could think of a good way to explore further without getting scalded, so the party returned to the floor of the cavern to make a run for their next objective; another terrace on the west wall. Once more, just as they were making the last turn before climbing the headwall, the mind- probing of the kopru returned. This time Kwinsea was the target, but the aquamancer held off the mental assault. Scanning the mud-pits again, this time a bulbous head was seen bobbing at the surface about 20' away. The party unleashed a barrage of spells, with a bonewarp from Chaff, magic missiles from Jaz, reduce thanks to Kwinsea, and a spiritual weapon called down from Brall by Torak. The creature shrugged off most of the prestidigitation, and also avoided arows from Pahu-Mahu. Rodrigo meanwhile was backing slowly away from his precarious position at the edge of the mud, and Awg used his sword to levitate above the fray. From there, he opened up with a laser pistol, while Chaff did the same from his lower elevation. Awg hit the kopru with a mighty blast, sending glowing, melted flesh all around. Kwinsea had attached a rope to the thing, and with Rodrigo's help started to haul it closer. It, meanwhile, sent out mental feelers once more, this time targeting Chaff. The vivmancers intellect matching is stature, he could not stop the intrusion, and now felt the need to help the kopru regain their domination over humanity. First step was to save it from the little vivimancer's companions, so Chaff cut his safety rope and started over behind the bulk of the party. He was just about to web the lot of them, and dump them in the boiling mud, when Awg blasted the kopru one more time with laser fire. The creatures head exploded in a spray of blue/green ichor, allowing Rodrigo and Kwinsea to pull the now limp body out of the mud. They examined it from headless head to triple flukes, then cut off a piece to take with them to see if it would regenerate.
Feeling cocky now, the party moved on to the small terrace they'd been approaching. This was quite narrow, so not all the party could reach the top at the same time. There they encountered another wall of flowstone, which was covering another stone bench. On this one lay a prone, skeletal figure, but no obvious signs of treasure.Which didn't stop anyone from chipping away at it, and after about a half hour the skull was uncovered. This was no ordinary skull, for it had crystallized into amethyst under the influence of the minerals. The party continued to chip away at the body to see if it was the same, but instead were surprised to find the remains rising up from the bench. It consisted of a long snake-like, skeletal spine, atop which perched the skull. Kwinsea, standing closest to it, immediately cast a rope trick to tie the creature jaw shut. Jaz tired to stab at it, but her seemingly solid blow glanced off with no effect. The creature now started to sway in a hypnotic dance, weaving back and forth. Awg and Kwinsea both fell into a hypnotic stupor as they watched, while the rest of the party once more unleashed spells and stabbing. Jaz used one of Abdul's magical bolts as a crude dagger and hit, while Rodrigo sliced and diced with his twin swords. Chaff, feeling vulnerable, cast a vitality surge to beef himself up, and Torak chanted a blessing from the drowned god. In the end, it took just one more blow from Rodrigo to fell the creature, which had all this time been trying to speak or scream through tightly bound jaws. Unfortunately, the battle had done severe damage to the crystal skull, which Pahu-Mahu appraised as now being worth just 2200gp rather than the original 7000gp.
After a quick scan for more loot, the party prepared to move out again. Once more they argued over cutting their losses and leaving, vs checking out that one last and vast terrace to the north. In the end, greed overcame caution, and they formed up in marching order once more. They probed a few dead end paths between the pits. Including one where Rodrigo, walking point, broke through the crust and fell into the boiling mud below. Reacting swiftly, the swashbuckler flicked his whip overhead, which Jaz grabbed so the party could haul his blistered body out of the mud. They pushed on carefully now, approaching the great terrace. As they did, they once more observed a kopru observing them from the adjacent mud-pit. With another flurry of spells and lasers, the party retreated behind the cover of a fog cloud from Kwinsea to a nearby rise to face off against the beast. Torak once more blessed the party, and Awg blasted away with his laser pistol, finally burning out the weapons' power-pack. As the kopru emerged from the fog cloud, Pahu-Mahu felt it try to take over his mind, but the native son was able to resist. It's mental attacked having failed, the kopru leapt out of the mud to attack with it's suckered mouth and talon-ed flukes. This proved fatal, as it was cut down by the weapons of the party in relatively short order. Having already determined it wouldn't regenerate, the party left the body and pressed on.
Climbing the high, broad terraces, they came once more to a familiar flowstone column, hiding skeletal remains. This once was not as thickly covered as the previous two, and a shroud of jewels was obvious. Held in one hand was a spear, the point being a massive shark tooth bound to the shaft by gold wire. Pahu-Mahu quickly chipped this out and claimed it, while the rest of the party chipped away the rest of the skeleton so they could loot the gems. Nothing arose to attack, and after some time the party's sacks were bulging with treasure. And at that, the decision was made to head back to the surface and the village. The sulfurous cavern was traversed with no problem, and there were no delays in the temple or on the lake. The party, probably for the last time, hauled their canoes up on the beach and headed into the village.
The party pushed off in their dugout canoes the next morning, joined by one of the only non-geriatric tribe members; Pahu-Mahu. They crossed the lake and passed through the upper temple without event, finding themselves once more on the wide mineral terrace overlooking the hellish cavern. Worried about losing someone to the charms of the kopru, they party roped together like mountaineers before proceeding further. Based on Pretty Bird's previous scouting mission, they headed around the first mud-pit to another series of mineral terraces along the south wall. Being extra cautious, Rodrigo started to hammer spikes into the mineral crust for tie-offs. The party quickly stopped that practice when the crust cracked beneath their feet, threatening them with a dunking in the boiling mud. The instead opted to run s quickly as possible past the mud pits and up onto the terrace. Just as they paused to start climbing, however, Torak felt the tell-tale tug at his brain, which told the party the kopru was about. They turned at bay, searching the adjacent mud pit for their enemy. Of it they could see no sign, so everyone climbed up and proceeded to their destination.
 |
| Mineral Spring |
 |
| Crystallized Skull |
 |
| The Last Skeleton |
Climbing the high, broad terraces, they came once more to a familiar flowstone column, hiding skeletal remains. This once was not as thickly covered as the previous two, and a shroud of jewels was obvious. Held in one hand was a spear, the point being a massive shark tooth bound to the shaft by gold wire. Pahu-Mahu quickly chipped this out and claimed it, while the rest of the party chipped away the rest of the skeleton so they could loot the gems. Nothing arose to attack, and after some time the party's sacks were bulging with treasure. And at that, the decision was made to head back to the surface and the village. The sulfurous cavern was traversed with no problem, and there were no delays in the temple or on the lake. The party, probably for the last time, hauled their canoes up on the beach and headed into the village.
TOTAL XP
12710
GAINS
1 somewhat battered crystal & amethyst skull (2200gp)
More gem and jewelry grave goods (7600gp)
Shark Tooth Spear
1 somewhat battered crystal & amethyst skull (2200gp)
More gem and jewelry grave goods (7600gp)
Shark Tooth Spear
KILLS
2 Kopru AKA Mud Cthulhu
1 Crystal-skull necrophidius thing
1 Crystal-skull necrophidius thing
LOSSES
None
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