As the journey continued, the heroes found themselves swimming back through the long tunnel that they previously ignored. BArannis was no longer affected by his water breathing cantrip so he had to stay behind and wait. The party has been quite careful with their light sources recently so they swam in the dark until they could see the faint glow at the opening of the pipe.

Baerhface saw 2 large, looming shadows pass through the water and decided to throw a sunrod down into the depths to see what they were. The giant lobsters swooped in and snatched up the light source. Seeing the sheer size of these beasts, the adventurers decided to retreat and live to fight another day.

Turning back, they went toward the last unknown path. The giant clam shell. As they arrived, they realized the scale of this gargantuan mollusk. The shell was slightly ajar and the team was able to poke through the mucus lining and slip through. Inside the shell was an intricate series of rooms and doors. They found some jars and urns filled with shells, lobsters and other sea dwelling goodies. Baehrface went to town gorging at the seafood buffet. The rest decided to hold onto these and found that they were the key to opening the ornate doors. Once the correct offerings were placed in the waiting claws of Blipdoolboop, the beautifully kelp engraved doors clicked open.

The party crept around the hallways with a dark light ritual provided by BArannis, hoping not to attract too much attention. However, their presence did not remain hidden for long. Swarms of Kua’toa rushed at the adventurers through the hallways. The battle raged on with crackling fists of lightning and the sound of metal clashing on metal. Everything was in control until a large lobster-like construct came to life and began trampling through the party. The situation looked dismal until BArannis pulled out his bag of magic tricks and unleashed a PHANTASM CHASM, which seriously debilitated the enemy frogmen. With a little luck, the construct was knocked down and pressed into the corner of the hallway. It was a close one but the heroes came out on top.

They continued searching the inside rooms of this giant clam shell and discovered that many sailors and people were imprisoned here. Baylea drew them a map that lead back to the relative safety of town. There were treasures and books detailing the flooding of Lochport and other methods of reincarnating Blipdoolboop. The stronger men were armed with mundane weapons from the armory and instead of staying and fighting, we asked them to lead the rest back to safety.

After releasing the prisoners, the adventurers rediscovered the room with the 2 giant lobster beasts. They disposed of the frogmen who were handling them and blew up a few barrels of fish to distract them.

Seeking salvation from crustacean castration, Bakaruda hastily bursted into the central room. Inside was a 3 tiered temple and there were several ominous shapes in the surrounding water. Again, there was a lobster claw, holding a mysterious pearl.

Our heroes tried to shut the door and slip away unnoticed but Bakaruda’s light source gave them away. As they pressed up against the walls, wondering if they have been discovered, an eerie voice commanded… “Get them too.”

After a much needed extended rest, the heroes decided to journey back into the depths of the Kua’toa village. They used the short-cut that the illithid climbed through to quickly get back to their exploration.

There were 4 choices in front of them. They could head back the well under the statue, the room with the watery symbol and ovals, the waterfall path where BArannis separated to or the giant clam shell as described by our giant squid faced acquaintance.

Baylea, Baehrface & Bakaruda all clumsily recited their scrolls and headed toward the well under the statue. They found BArannis floating face-down, near death in an air pocket through the underwater caverns. With a little bit of help, BArannis came to and the party continued through the watery tunnels and pipes.

After a lengthy swim involving towing BArannis along, they discovered a dammed area infested with Kua’toa. Baylea was able to cut their forces off by turning the bronze wheels and shutting the underwater grates.

The team disposed of the forces in the main room quite easily but things took a turn for the worse as they proceeded through the final pass. Most of the fighting took place beneath the surface and even with the scrolls of water breathing, it was quite a struggle.

Bakaruda went charging in but eased up when he saw the large number of Kua’toa hiding in the last room. Swirling torrents of water violently surged at the party dragging them down into a watery grave. Baylea almost succumbed to the injuries caused by the elementals but luckily Bakaruda got to her in time. BArannis had thrown every icy spell he had at them an seriously limited the damage they could have caused. Once free of their frozen shackles, they shifted quickly and lunged with their great spears. Eventually their lifeless shackles drifted toward the bottom and finally there was a moment’s rest.

Once things settled, they discovered a shrine to Blipdoolboop with some valuable pearls. Of course the adventurers nabbed the loot and even tried worshipping the statue to no avail. They also found 12 eggs which they also kept. Unfortunately 2 of them were broken in a juggling accident. One of them is specifically being held by BArannis.

At least now we know what the water and oval symbols mean.

Baylee sat an the floor of the cold cave with her eyes almond shaped eyes closed. Centering her mind, she felt the weariness she had felt from the previous battle slowly fading, replaced by a keen sense of focus. Across from her, Bakaruda was wiping blood off of his shield and cleaning his sword. Even Baehrface was looking spent after their last battle despite the crooked smile he perpetually wore.
“Which way should we go?” asked Baylea.
BArannis spoke up. “I’m going to continue this way. I’ll meet up with you guys later.”
“My friend,” interjected Bakaruda, “perhaps we should stay together. When first we met, you were floating half unconscious down a waterfall.”
BArannis chuckled and replied. “Trust me. I’ll find a way to get to you later.”
With that, the trio picked themselves up and with a few more words, said goodbye to their new friend.
After some debate, they decided to go down the unmarked path. The stone passages snaked in front of them, leading them down further and further. The rough-hewn stone suggested the worn remnants of an ancient culture having been there long ago. Baehrface lead the way, slinking along the edge of light provided by his dragonborn ally. Here, between the edge of darkness and light, he felt most at home.

Before long, they found themselves at the corner of a glowing cavern. Baehrface signalled a stop and quickly looked around the corner. Several more frogmen stood sentry around the bend. Silently. he signalled the attack with the flash of his dagger speeding through the rank, dark air. Despite having seen the light coming towards them, these frog-monsters hadn’t spotted the rogue sneak up on them. The first foe was quickly dispatched, but not before the alarm sounded and a stream of menacing amphibians threatened to surround the heroes from all sides.

Working in concert, the team covered each others backs, picking off the weakest, yet still dangerous, of the monsters. Knowing they were outnumbered, they kept their backs to each other except for those two or three key times when it made perfect sense to exploit a weakness in the enemy’s approach – Bakaruda smiting an approaching group with the holy fire in his belly, or Baylee single-handedly plugging a chokepoint where the foul creatures sought to flank the heroes.

Down to the last two, Baylee reaches out over the closest frog-monster’s head to reach the further foe. Before the closer one can gurgle a twisted sigh of relief, she draws her quarterstaff back against it’s skull, striking a vicious blow. With the immediate threats taken care of, she hustles over to her friends, who hadn’t expected her back so soon…

The rest of the battle fell into the easy rhythm of a dance they were all used to by now.

After the battle was over and the rest of the frogmen lay slain, the party searched about. The huts around them seemed to be barely inhabitable. The only building that seemed to have been used with frequency was a foreboding structure with an altar to the frogmen’s evil goddess. The shrine was covered in blood and a foul stench lay in the air. Baylee swam beneath the water in the pool beside the statue. The water ran deep and she was forced to return before asphyxiation took her.

Looking about further, the party crossed a stone bridge and found an ornate door covered in shells and coral. Baylee attempted to pick the lock but was unable to slide the pins into place. Baehrface took a look and with a few nimble twists of his green hands, the lock clicked into place and they were able to break through. Inside, they found what looked like a prison for the frogmen. As soon as they crossed the threshold of the corridor, the cells opened and
deranged frogpeople attacked. In the midst of the frogmen’s attack, a figure stood silently watching. A purple-skinned being carefully gazed, watching the stoic paladin and brave halfling fight the swarm of frogmen around them.

Without a word, he glided past them, using a powerful barrage of psychic power to knock them away. In his haste, he did not notice a little green hazard in his path. Baehrface knew this one for what it was. An Illithid. A powerful denizen of the underdark. As the tentacle-faced monstrosity moved ran past him, Baehr interposed with a well-placed dagger in his bony skeleton. Quickly leaping up, Baehr knocked out the mentalist and landed atop his thin frame,
delivering another blow to the back of his head. “Don’t kill him!” yelled Baylee. With a shrug, Baehr rejoined the party.

Bakaruda, still reeling from the mind blast, collected himself and threw his weight against the remainder of the frog men. Together, they trio finished off the slimy cretin and turned their focus back to the Illithid. Only Baylee was able to speak to him in his own language but the other two spoke with him using the language of the mind. The Illithid was reluctant to speak with the green terror that stood before him, and instead chose to commune with Bakaruda and Baylee. The two of them quickly found out that the Illithid was a prisoner there and decided to let him go, but not before finding out more about the frogmen. They were an ancient evil, a bane of sailors throughout the ages. They were here to reclaim the land, pulling it into the sea. The party, weary from their efforts, hustled back to Akelos’ tower for refuge before heading back into the fray. The next day promised more danger, and a chance to rid the city of more foul frogkind.

As instructed by Akelos, our heroes delved into the mysterious winding catacombs in search of the source of the recent catastrophes. Fearlessly they pressed forward even after their near death run in with several umberhulks. Passing through walls covered with beautiful glyphs and some simpler carvings, the heroes came across a fork in the path. Would they venture toward the rushing water? Or would they follow the curious steps down into the depths?

Whether on foot, scaling ridges or surfing currents on magic shields, they were drawn toward the sound of the flowing water. Deep below the surface, shadows began to dance. The closer our heroes drew, the farther the shadows would dart. Until… MORE EVIL FROGMEN! Wicked screams, razor-like claws really took a toll of the party. However, a most useful floating package drifted into our lap. A mysterious man of magics called BArannis was discovered by Baylea. Although his craft seemed a little unrefined, he fought well for a blind, resurrection sick caster.

It was a good thing he was adept with lightning because of the swarms of frogmen. One jolt of his staff sent 3 of them flying. Extra crispy frog legs anyone?

Even Baehrface had trouble with the little ones, who left him short a few potions. He tried to duck and juke but they pummeled him pretty badly as he tried his usual shenanigans. Speaking of shenanigans, these frogmen speaking in tongues, which seems to vex Baylea quite greatly. It left the party dangling by a thread. Luckily Bakaruda still had some tricks up his sleeve. It seems that he chose wisely when healing Baehrdace over the strange but powerful Eladrin. A few lucky strikes later, the party was back up on it’s feet.

Scouring the remains, Bakaruda found a shrine to an umberhulk that had a powerful staff embedded in it. The silly one tried to desecrate the shrine and was immediately punished by the gods. Bet it’s the last time he’ll try to desecrate anything religious.

The two short ones were great swimmers so they led the search around the cavern. Some hidden caches were found with many riches within them. Interesting enough, BArannis did not want any part in the treasure. Seems he must be paid well by his current employer. They have elected to have BArannis stick around but warned that he would need to be more forthcoming about his intentions here.

In the water, Bakaruda had trouble doing anything but staying afloat on his shield wearing plate armor so he had to be towed through the chasms. Eventually the team sprang out of the tunnels and made their way back to the fork and down the stairs.

Finally in a room past winding tunnels, they were faced with some kind of message with another fork to decide upon. To the left was an unmarked path and to the right, a tunnel marked with 3 ovals under wavy lines.

Was this a map? a warning? Our heroes may find out very, very soon.

Starlight fell upon the peaks of the Windhorn mountains, changing them blue and silver, instead of their normal rusty hue. The night was clear and a warm breeze ran through the iron village. Fezeroth was not without its charms thought Baehrface. The little green goblin sat in the long grass and chewed on a stalk of straw as he watched fireflies emerge from the brush, blinking against the twinkling sky. Feeling a mixture of sadness and hope, he had watched all evening as lights went out from the quaint homes of the village’s people. Tomorrow, he would finally be leaving Fezeroth after a long winter of toil. With the snows melted more than a month ago, Baehr could have left with the first wagons carrying the precious metal across Cartega, but leaving the town wasn’t as easy as he would’ve thought. Who knew that the town’s hard-working people would find their way into the normally mischievous goblin’s little green heart? Baehr allowed himself a smile, followed by a short sigh. He had booked passage with one of the town’s best customers, the merchant Brennan. In a few short hours, he would be re-embarking on his journey across Cartega, and ultimately, Lendovar. He would be meeting other travellers, each with their own amusing stories. Still, he would miss the simplicity that he found here. Smiling through his gap teeth, he lay back, curled up into a little green ball, and slept.

Morning came and light enveloped Baehr like a thousand warm fingers. He awoke with a stiff yawn and a cat-like stretch. Smacking his lips, he got up, and walked into the village. People were already around and about, buying, selling, baking, smelting, running, rushing. It was a sharp contrast to the peace only a few short hours ago. Baehrface walked up to his favourite stall in the entire market row.
“Good morning Justyn!” He said cheerfully. The shopkeeper frowned. “What do you want today you little scamp?”
Baehr smiled innocently. “Just wanted to see what you had today.”
“I’m warning you Baehr… if I catch you taking any more of my fruits, so help me, I’ll throttle you!”
A dozen or so apricots fell from Baehr’s sticky little hands, falling behind him. “My friend! You wound me!” he complained. With a harumph of indignation, the short goblin turned on his heel and stormed out. Behind him, Justyn picked up the fallen fruit, and among them, he found a single golden coin… payment for a season’s worth of juicy larceny.

Baehr walked back to his little inn with a spring in his step. He had already settled up with the innkeeper, several times more than what he owed, but he wanted to offer the Smiling Fox’s innkeep a proper farewell. Walking into the common area, he sat atop a tall stool, built for someone of his stature and waited. The innkeeper stood behind the counter wiping grease off the old wood. Neither of them said the words, but both man and goblin knew that it would be some time if ever they saw each other again. Baehr would miss the innkeep’s ridiculous anecdotes and friendly conversation.

Again, Baehrface took to the road. Walking toward the village’s southmost gate, Baehr saw a large wagon yoked to a single horse with a tall man shouting orders. Already, a tall dragonborn stood silently in his shining plate armor next to the wagon, a long hand-and-a-half sword, and shield strapped to his colossal frame, the symbol of Bahamut hanging around his neck. Beside him were two females: An elfen maid dressed in wool robes and a bright halfling woman wearing the simple garments of a monk. Brennan jumped from his place at the reins of the horse and looked at Baehrface. “You’re late.”