Return to the Ruins of Adventure - Session 23: Price of Entry

As the party regroups on the shoreline the beholder charges down the pyramid and across the water, eye beams blazing. Uthal and Kordan stand ready to meet the monstrosity while Althea, Mikal, and Jovanni respons with various blasts and beams of their own in a scintillating exchange of fire. Soon enough sword and shield and spear meet snapping maw while flame, frost, and force shoot back and forth along the shore. Cutting words, a hellish rebuke, a fire shroud, rays of enfeeblement, vicious mockery, and force beams are all a part of this short and violent fray. In the end an eldritch blast from the warlock sizzles thorugh a weakened plate in the creatures outer shell and fries its innards, ending the fight as it crashes to the ground, eyes finally closed for good. The heroes are somewhat battered but they stand victorious over the foe. As the sun sets they decide to camp for the night and attempt the pyramid again in the morning.

The next day the group begins investigating the pyramid and the lake. After walking up and down the seamless, featureless sides of the structure and trying various actions on the purple crystal at the peak, they decide the answer must lie underwater. The area is heavily ocntaminated with a viscuous purple-black substance which makes vsibility and even swimming somewhat more difficult than usual but it does not seem to cause actual harm. After some experimentation they discover that there is an opening in the side of the pyramid under water. With the aid of a rope and the help of the party's best swimmers, the whole group is soon surfacing in a large, wet room inside the structure.

Emerging from the oily black water the adventurers see a huge square room, dimly lit from an unknown source, and half-full of water, confirming that the pyramid does indeed lean to one side. It quickly becomes evident that the black contamination emanates from another structure inside the room. It looks like a large metal box with various attached structures and projections and gives the impression that it is some kind of boat, though one no longer capable of staying afloat. It has been crushed and battered by some great force and the blakcness leaks from the back and side of the object, trickling into the water and out through the opening in the side.

While examing the room and the crushed, leaking, object the party realizes that some of the black oily substance is pooled up around the structure. When they approach, it _moves_ and attempts to engulf them. As they back off, another pool of blakcness rears up on the other side of the wreck and moves to engage as well - combat ensues. Jovanni is caught in a bad position and is partially engulfed by one of the things, causing him to unleash his most potent magics in a desperate attempt to get free or slay the thing. Kordan and Uthal discover that slicing and stabbing the blobs merely shears a part of them off, which continues to fight on its own! Things look bad for our heroes as a small horde of these lesser globs gather around, blocking any retreat! Fire, however, proves to be an effective weapon and the party has plenty of that in various shades of red, purple, and green. Rage also proves to be effective against the smaller things as Uthal goes berserk and slaughters several of them on his own as Kordan holds off the big ones. The heroes triumph in a flurry of flame and frenzy, breathing heavily as they look at the black slimy masses splattered across the floor of the room, which is slowly sliding downslope into the water.

After the fight the party takes a breather and notices there are two openings on one side of the room. They decide to investigate and find a shaft leading up into darkness...