“Time to put a couple of genies back in their bottles,” Kai said, readying the sentient trident Wave as the efreeti approached, sloshing through the water.
Kildo watched. To the north and western passage came a towering efreeti. They advanced down, twirling a scimitar as they walked toward them with sinister grins. Humanoid in appearance, they were 12 feet tall, massive, and solid, as their footfalls caused impact tremors. They were well-muscled and had red skin that seemed to be burning. If water was to most life forms, the fire was to these efreets. Steam rose around their ankles as their hot skin boiled the foot of water around them. The temperature grew humid, oppressive, and sultry. The dwarf could feel the sweat drip from his armpits.
“Stoopid hu-mon, we are already in our bottle, eh Nox,” Nix said from the western passage. The efreeti had four horns protruding from his head. Two stubby nubs in the front, with two slightly longer ones in the back.
“That’s right Nix,”said Nox from the northern corridor.
“I’m a triton,” informed Kai. “Not a human.”
“All you watery-slugs look the same to us,” Nix replied.
“Then it looks like I’m going to send you both to a watery, Wave,” Kai answered.
As Nix was about to respond, a beam of crackling purple energy lanced and struck the efreeti. The blast left a scorch mark, as Scomatch cast, Witch Bolt. The halfling mage cackled in delight as the magical lightning connected the halfling wizard to the spasming creature from the plane of fire.
Nix’s hands shook, but began casting. A torrent of fire erupted in front of the efreeti, as a whirling inferno came into being, a fire elemental.
“Fire bad!” 9 of 5 bellowed, and he fled from the vortex of flame northward. The flesh golem attacked Nox slamming its two meaty fists into the efreeti.
Running on top of the water, Guo Gan raced north following 9 of 5 into the ten-foot-wide corridor. The monk unleashed two quick strikes, but the efreeti Nox dodged right and left, avoiding both. The creature swung its massive scimitar across. The elf dodged, but bringing the weapon back lower, Guo Gan threw out his hands, stopping the blade, but the force knocked him into the wall.
“Life is death. Death is rebirth. Rebirth is life. Let’s fight!” Kildo chanted, as he cast, Guardian of Faith. A towering spectral guardian in the form of a dwarf appeared between Nix in the western passageway and the fire elemental the efreeti had just summoned. The manifestation comprised of a war hammer and shield with the blazing ankh symbol of Rigga the Mother Goddess. The guardian did a sweeping motion as the magical weapon blasted both the creatures of flame with radiant damage. Turning northwards, the cleric cast spiritual weapon. A magical shimmering war hammer appeared next to Nox to the north. The spectral hammer smashed into the shoulder of the efreeti.
Kai began chanting and the trident Wave began to glow. The holy light extended out twenty feet, as the weapon became infused with sacred magical energy.
Indigo lighting continued to race from Scomatch’s hands into Nix. The electoral energy continued to burn and leave scorch marks across its form. A magical one-foot diameter sphere formed in front of the halfling, as he cast Vitriolic Sphere. It streaked above Nix’s head and exploded. A torrent of acid rained on the efreeti’s body. The creature from the plane of fire bellowed in pain as it burned, and its face partially melted and left permanent scarring.
The fire elemental summoned by Nix roared down the western corridor. Flame hurled from Nix followed. It blasted into the watery ground, boiling the contents. It burned Kildo’s legs. Water then evaporated into scalding steam as the fire elemental engulfed Kildo and Scomatch.
Scomatch stood his ground against the fire elemental and scoffed. “Baby flames.”
Throwing up his shield in defense, Kildo moved northwards towards Kai. Seeing his beard smoldering, he patted the embers out with his hands. Free from the immediate flames and boiling water, the cleric cast, Bless. Kai, Guo Gan, and 9 of 5 glowed briefly. He then commanded his spiritual weapon the bash into Nox.
Enhanced by the bless spell, Guo Gan faced off against Nox. Throwing a round-house kick, the efreeti blocked the blow. The monk punched and struck the creatures groin, in an attempt to stun it.
Both looked down at the elf’s balled fist. “Har, har, har! Missed Hu-mon!’ The efreeti then slashed horizontally with its massive scimitar. Time itself slowed, as Guo Gan inhumanly bent his body backwards. The blade sliced harmlessly a mere inch above the elf’s chest.
“I’m the dread pirate Kai and my wrath is as massive and treacherous as the sea. I’ll give you three wishes!” Wave glowed brighter from its divinity and bless spell. The trident lunged with uncanny speed, as all three points thrust into Nox’s leg. Radiant damage blasted from the prongs, as the efreeti roared in pain. The creature thrashed about. Both Guo Gan and 9 and 5 attacked, but Nox’s form moved too fast to land any blows.
“Feel the burn!” Still holding his ground, Scomatch continued to launch electrical energy into Nix from his witch bolt spell. The halfling mage then cast, Thunderstep. Teleporting to the east, a thunderous boom echoed in the chamber. The force pushed Nix’s fire elemental towards the efreeti and into the waiting range of Kildo’s spectral guardian of faith. Its war hammer blasted each with radiant damage.
The fire elemental followed Kildo in the northern corridor. Feeling the intense heat, Kai turned and thrust Wave. It stuck into the fire elemental. Ice formed at the weapon’s tip and kept the creature of flame at bay, preventing it from engulfing the dwarf again. The noise in the area was intense from the squealing of water and the roar of the fire elemental. However, Kildo caught the following from the sentient trident, Wave. It was singing a watery sea shanty.
“There once was a ship called the Emerald Eel...”
While the fire elemental was stopped cold by Wave, it reached out with its flaming hand. Kildo blocked it with his shield, but the fire rushed over it, burning his chain mail. The intense heat transferred through the metal, burning his skin. He first felt the impact tremors and then saw Nix appear to the south following the fire elemental. The efreeti was moving against Scomatch. While taking the heat, the halfling was looking worse for wear. His ego refusing to be mastered by another’s fire. Kildo touched his holy symbol of Rigga. Cooling, healing energy spread through his body, as well as Scomatch. However, the reprieve was short lived. If things weren’t bad enough, Nox’s hands began to cast. A torrent of fire erupted in front of the efreeti, as a whirling inferno came into being, another fire elemental emerged onto the battlefield.
All the while, Wave’s shanty continued. “…where there’s rum a plenty…”
Kai made a deliberate attempt to impale Nox with Wave. The sentient weapon glowed from Kildo’s bless spell. Its three prongs struck the efreeti’s chest. Cold damage spread all along its body. Nox looked on in disbelief, as its body disintegrated in a flash of fire and a puff of smoke. Turning to the south, Kai swung Wave over Kildo’s head and thrust. The trident continued to glow from the bless spell and pierced the form of the fire elemental. Cold, radiant, and physical damage caused a loud hissing sound as the flames were smothered, destroying the creature.
Kai then snorted, “Have a bless-ed day.”
“Fire bad!” 9 of 5 bellowed. Now that the flesh golem was no longer stuck between two fire elementals, he fled south. Its arms swung wildly, and one of his meaty paws actually smashed into Nix’s head. Its force so powerful, it broke one of the efreeti’s back horns. The fragment made a resounding ‘plop’ into the water.
Continuing his concentration on his witch bolt spell, Scomatch continued to electrocute Nix like a galactic emperor from a galaxy far, far away. The halfling formed a chromatic orb of acid in his hands and hurled it at Nix. More acid burned the already disfigured form of the efreeti.
Running atop the foot of water, Guo Gan rushed to help Scomatch. The monk’s leg smashed outward kicking with tremendous force. It struck the groin area of the efreeti in another attempt to stun it.
“Har, har, har! You missed the Tinkle Dinkle again, elf! However, I grow tired of you trying to fondle me,” Nix said.
“It’s because they are so small,” Guo Gan retorted.
Growling at the monk, Nix said touching his broken horn, “I know what you all look like and will never forget what you have done to me. I’ll be back!” The efreeti’s body flattened to two dimensions. It then compressed into a singularity and winked out of existence as the creature plane shifted away.
With the efreets either dispatched or fled, the remaining fire elemental didn’t seem to be affected. It continued to burn everything around it. It focused its attention on Kai. The vaguely humanoid torrent of flame advanced. Kai thrust Wave into the fiery mass. The prongs attempted to spread cold but were quickly melted away. The fire elemental grabbed the sentient weapon. Flames spread down the shaft reaching the paladin. While Wave was protected, Kai was less so. As the heat reached him and burned, he retracted the trident.
Kildo commanded his spiritual weapon to attack the fire elemental. It struck the creature’s form. Following up, he bashed with his war hammer. Connecting with the elemental, radiant damage blasted the creature, but the blunt damage from his weapon didn’t seem to affect it.
Continuing to keep the fire elemental at bay, Kai thrust Wave into the flame vortex. With each hit, the creature seemed to diminish as the cold damage from the trident took its toll. While the ice was quickly melted, the whirling flames within lessened.
A chromatic orb of acid then exploded across the front of the fire elemental thrown by Scomatch.
“You guys got this,” Guo Gan said to Kildo as the monk turned and sped southwards.
Kildo’s eyes followed the monk as he continued to run across the surface of the foot deep of water and skidded to a halt to the south where the wall of force was erected. Guo Gan’s feet sunk. Well beyond at the far end of the southern corridor and the location of their original entrance stood a lone figure. Human and bald with a beard, he appeared to be a magic user. Donning purple robes, a green sash, and holding a weathered staff with a similar braid the other creatures wore tied to the end of his staff. There was a large name tag on his chest with a pre-printed wording reading, Manager. In the middle in archaic writing was the name Keraptis. He glanced sideways curiously at the monk. Guo Gan extended his fingertips so they touched the force field. The monk then slammed his fist a mere inch away. The invisible wall shimmered, wavered, and then collapsed. Smirking, Guo Gan sprinted south towards the wizard Keraptis, who became blurry, like he wasn’t completely in synch with reality.
Pulling out his wand of magic missiles, Kildo fired. A glowing dart screamed toward Keraptis. Just as it was about to strike, a magical shield immediately sprang up and absorbed the bolt. Grumbling knowing the other magic missiles would be deflected, turned his aim at the fire elemental and launched two bolts into it. He continued to command his spiritual weapon to attack the creature. Steam continued to rise from boiling water. Haze filled the air and caused the weapon to miss.
Kai pressed his attack on the fire elemental and lunged. Wave’s three barbs struck the creature’s chest. Cold from the sentient weapons spread. Diminished from the attacks, the rest of its body turned to ice and as the flames fought against it, the fire elemental shattered. Its pieces falling into the water.
With its constant vortex of flame gone, Wave’s shanty could once again be heard. “…a drunken Scomatch asked, where did all the liquor go…”
A chromatic orb burst right next to Keraptis head, as Scomatch launched his spell. The stone wall sizzled, as the liquid acid dripped down.
Guo Gan punched. Keraptis magical shield moved to block the blow. A moment later, the monks left leg came sweeping in. The barrier raced to block it, but the elf’s leg smashed in to the side of Keraptis.
The previously absent Gynosphinx came racing down the corridor to the far south. The massive creature leap toward Guo Gan in an attempt to pin him. The monk moved with snake-like speed and accuracy as he dodged the sphinx at the last second.
Stepping back, Keraptis face scrunched up in displeasure. He was offended he had actually been touched by Guo Gan. The wizard blinked out of existence and appeared right next to Kildo. A wave of intense pressure emanated from the wizard. His entire body froze, as fear gripped him. He felt like if he moved a muscle, he’d be turned into a kelpie dwarf. He had to remain perfectly still. The only person in the party seemingly unaffected was Kai, who was shaking his head, warding off the effects.
“Your charms don’t affect me manager,” Kai stated. He charged Keraptis and thrust with Wave. The sentient trident struck the wizard in the shoulder.
Screaming in pain, Keraptis’s body began to shake uncontrollably. His head shook back and forth so violently it blurred and then transformed. Its skin changed to a soft, flexible, moist, and rubbery texture. The color mutated to sickening mauve. Excretion of a thin film of slimy, glistening mucus keeping it moist gave off a calming scent of vanilla. However, its most distinguishing feature was its head. It was bulging, ridged, and with an elongated face reminiscent of an octopus, with a cluster of four flexible, unsegmented, extendable, purplish-black tentacles surrounding its mouth. They writhed and undulated almost constantly and absent-mindedly but flexed in anticipation at feasting. Its eyes, sheltered by brow ridges, were uniformly pale and devoid of pupils, similar to those of a blind cavefish. The creature’s hands were long, slender, and lacked an index finger and nails were thick and black. It was now dressed in flowing and dramatic purple robes with a high, flaring collar, a cloak and wore distinctively two-lobed boots. Keraptis was unmistakably a mind flayer.
Like a cat, the Gynosphinx swiped at the stunned Guo Gan knocking him into the water with a resounding splash. Circling the downed monk, she sat her butt on top of him.
Kildo saw bubbles pop on the surface. The elf was drowning. He wanted to move, but he couldn’t. His body refused to obey him. The dwarf then caught the sweet scent of vanilla. It was syrupy that exuded warmth in an alluring way. Something heavy struck his helmet, slithering across. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the mind flayer’s tentacles. Probing and prodding a way underneath his helm.
“Hey, Squidward!” Kai’s voice called out. “Don’t you know that dwarven clerics aren’t known for their intelligence. Rocks in their brains. If you want a feast, why don’t you come over here and taste the other, other white meat.”
The tentacles were briefly surrounded by a silvery mist, before the mind flayer misty stepped next to Kai. The otherworldly horror lashed out with its feelers. Missing the illithid reached out to grab the paladin with his hands to pull him closer. The two were heavily engaged and Kai was unable to angle Wave in for a proper strike. Bringing Wave’s end up, the triton swung low and connected squarely into its groin. The mind flayer was unphased by the strike’s location.
“We illithid’s are not hampered by sexual organs,” The mind flayer spoke, but it was heard within their minds.
“Junk, no junk. It all burns the same,” Scomatch called out shaking off the effect of the creature’s mind blast. As a fireball flew from the halfling’s hands, the mind flayer covered itself in its thick cloak for protection. Flames ignited the area, as it was sculpted around Kai.
Throwing off the burning mantle, the mind flayer glanced at the Gynosphinx. The cat-like creature leapt off of Guo Gan and sprang toward Scomatch.
“Eep!”
The halfling was instantly buried in the mass of fur as the sphinx sat on him.
Guo Gan was pushed to the surface of the water and floated, as he was still under the effects of Kildo’s water walking spell.
The mind flayer turned back toward the triton. Its snake-like tentacles flexing hungry in anticipation of the feast that lie ahead. The three points of Wave pierced right under the creature’s mouth driving into its brain. The mind flayer was impaled by the trident. A sickening, suckling sound preceded the tips piercing through the illithid’s cartilage-like head.
As the mind flayer died, the fear that once struck Kildo was now gone. He could move again. Everyone previously stunned by the creature’s mind blast could. He heard a muffling sound, as Scomatch crawled out from underneath the Gynosphinx. His mouth gripped a braid that all the other inhabitants of the fun house wore.
“Where did you get that?” Kai asked.
Spitting it out, Scomatch said, “You don’t want to know.”
Shaking off the effects, as if waking from a long sleep, the Gynosphinx exclaimed, “I’m free!” The sphinx then bound happily splashing down the southern corridor and towards the entrance.
Pulling the sentient trident from the mind flayer’s skull, the last lyric of Wave’s sea shanty concluded. “…and the lesson to my shipmates of old. Odium can’t be trusted. Oh no, Odium can’t be trusted.”
***
“Three months!? We’ve been gone like three days,” Kai said.
Kildo grumbled under his breath at the realization that they had been in Keraptis’ House of Fun for a quarter of a year. After resting, and not finding any signs of the dwarven ghost and the war hammer he carried, the group visited the only area left undiscovered. A deep pit off the entrance that, after pulling a leaver, it drained the foot of water in the dungeon. Returning back to White Plume Mountain the dwarven guard took them to meet Copperlocks.
“Yes, three months, but you be saying ye be down there just three days?” Copperlocks questioned, shaking her head in disbelief. “It be good that you be alive. We assumed you all died.” Her eyes then rose up staring at the 8-foot-tall flesh golem made of a jigsaw puzzle of body parts stitched and bolted together with a tattered pair of singed trousers covering his modesty. “So, I see ye brought a new friend. So, tell me what ye all found.”
Following her gaze to the golem, Kai said, “That’s 9 of 5. He was a prize we won in the fun house. He follows us around. The Bear Brigade are gone, all slain. There was a very insane entity calling himself Keraptis. Whether he truly existed or not, he turned out to be a mind flayer in disguise. In hindsight, it made some sense as he had a menagerie of different creatures held under his spell. I suggest you seal the entrance off and ensure your people never go in there,” Kai informed.
Nodding in understanding, Copperlocks said, “Kildo, be giving me the dimensions of the area to ensure we don’t accidentally mine an opening to this Keraptis Fun House.”
“Aye lass. I will. By the way did ye be seeing any creatures come up before us?” Kildo asked.
“No, not that me guards relayed. Now, I’m be assuming you be wanting to know what’s been happening fer the past three months?” Copperlock’s asked. Seeing the party nod their heads, the dwarven miner continued. “Scarlet Peeks be pretty much rebuilt with the Rolar Empire legionnaires hammering away at it. Me mine has been going strong. Adventures be killing things and other than wind storms being a problem, things have been relatively calm. Knock on stone.”
“The griffin riders?” Guo Gan asked.
“Ye must be meaning the Feathergale Society. They haven’t come back, so I not be knowing what they been up to. Dexy’s Midnight Runners be sent out there months back, but they haven’t been heard from since.
“Is the Sea Ghost still around?” Kai asked.
“Yes, so I be guessing you’ll be wanting to speak with yer crew,” Copperlocks said and then her gaze examined each party member, but her focus centered on Kai’s sentient weapon, Wave. “I be seeing ye found yerself a new toy.”
“Yes, there were somethings to be had down there,” Kai remarked.
Treasure:
· Welcome to Level 9
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