The Watertemple

When Theleb arrived at the temple dedicated to the Element of Water, he found only a few inhabitants. After yet another defeat of one of the Elder’s Temples, Theleb has become quite concerned with the readiness of this temple. Theleb’s ability to free his twisted master is becoming a near impossible task. Since all of the precautions that have been taken at the other temples don’t seem to be effective, Theleb is taking a different approach in how he defends this temple. Instead of putting his clerics in harms way, he has replaced his clerics and followers with charmed monsters and undead. Theleb left one minor cleric to oversee the entire operation along with the help of the Alu-Fiend Pandemonia.

His goal is to use these creatures as a delaying tactic so he can fortify the real seat of power, Theleb’s personal tower.

Theleb is using the Water Temple as a trap for the heroes to fall into. The plan is to lure the adventurers into the “Abandoned” temple and create the illusion of a fully operational and protected facility. The truth is that the temple is stocked with a few nasty monsters, a lot of undead, the abnormal effects of the interior and a few spell casters. Once the party arrives in the temple, the cleric of the Elder (a female Sahuagin with four arms) and Pandemonia will lure the characters into the deepest areas where the main shrine is. Along the way, they will try to weaken the adventurers by having every creature in the temple attack the party. Once the party is in the shrine, the charmed casters and nasty creatures left will attack the party.

The Adventure

Hardby

Hardby is a very independent thinking town where women have all the rights and men have little to none. The women are “tolerant” of the presence of men in the town (outside the male restricted area) but only in matters of “official” business. This means they won’t just attack a man for walking outside certain “safe” areas but will show them some “courtesy” in helping them about their business.

The heroes go to the dock to find which ships are available for hire. Not many ships are in port right now The only ship captain that has any interest in talking with the characters about a charter is on “The Revenge.”

Samantha Porter of Hardby is the Captain of this vessel. Her first officer, Celest Dolphis, is a female Cleric of Procan and her crew also has a female Water Mage named Mara Reefskimer. She luckily is looking for help herself and is quite willing to work with the party for a reasonable price

In recent months, a few of Samantha’s ships have gone missing. No trace of the missing ships is found, any wreckage or bodies. Now this isn’t unusual for the kind of guerilla activity she has embarked on, but the circumstances under which the ships disappear are. After one vessel, “The Scarlet Death”, missed a rendezvous with “The Revenge”, Samantha set out to find the lost ship. She arrived to an area in the bay and was confronted with an awesome sight. She saw a great fire blazing on board “The Scarlet Death”. The ship turned helplessly in a whirlpool amidst a lightning storm with the force of a hurricane raining down hail made of stone. And the most incredible part was, the area where these effects were was only a half-mile across. Everything around that area was calm seas and skies. As the ship went down in the whirlpool, Samantha could here the screams of the crew as the forces of nature bombarded them. Once the ship had sunk out of sight, the storm dispersed in a matter of seconds and the area was as calm as if nothing happened.

On the Bay

On the third day out in the bay, as the ship makes its way through, the weather starts to turn for the worse, very quickly. The wind dies down and then a dark storm cloud begins to form above the ship. After the storm hits, the ship has an erie glow that surrounds it (Faire Fire) and the storm is at full hurricane strength. As this occurs, the Krackens that are under the ship begin their attacks.

Ktulu 7.5 - CM 10th Imperator --- (4:0)

Scorpio 1.6X5 - Chiron 0.4.1 --- (3,5:0,5)

Pharaon 3.3 - Movei 00.9.337 --- (3:1)

Spike 1.1 - Rybka 1.01 b13 --- (0,5:3,5)

The Charith Party won a lot of spell- and hitpoints in this fight. For especial skilful wizadry Ktulu was awarded an artefact and used it to ascend by 1 rank.

O the 5th day out to sea, as afternoon arrives, the bay begins to get choppy and the water around the ship begins to form a whirlpool. The crest of some large creature can be seen over 100 feet away from the ship, circling at the edge of the whirlpool. As the whirlpool starts to get stronger the creature disappears and the whirlpool abruptly stops. The head of an Elven female appears in the water.

Aquella explains, that for the past few weeks there has been an increase in creatures from the depths surfacing to attack those in and on the sea. Most of these creatures never leave the depths and are docile, but for some unknown reason they are surfacing and attacking everything in their wake.

Aquella and her patrol of 8 Aquatic Elves were sent from the temple to lead the party there so the trap can be sprung.

Under the Sea

The ocean floor is 500 feet below the surface of the bay. The currents are strong in this part of the bay and swimming can be quite difficult at times.

As the party makes its way to the fissure, there is a plant field that surrounds that area of the reef. A group of 4 Kelpie is waiting to set their trap. They attack the back of the party as it passes overhead by luring the men to come into the plants.

Pharaon 3.3 - Chiron 0.4.1 --- (1:3)

Spike 1.1 - Gambit Fruit 1.0 Beta 4bx --- (2:2)

Scorpio 1.6X5 - Movei 00.8.337 --- (3:1)

Ktulu 7.5 - SmarThink 1.00 --- (1:3)

The Underwater Valley

The fissure that the party travels down is over 1,000 feet in depth. The fissure is bell shaped and opens into a huge valley that is over a mile in diameter at its base. In the valley, the bones of huge sea creatures, like whales, litter the ocean floor. There are spires of stone ranging from 10 feet high to over 100 feet high and 20 ft in diameter that rise from the depths. Around these spires is a collection of 40 different ships of all shapes, sizes, and ages. Most of these massive hulks are completely rotted. In the middle of the valley there is a huge spire made of reef that reaches over 200 feet from the ocean floor and is about 500 feet wide. The spire is tilted at a 20-degree angle from the ocean floor. Upon closer inspection of the spire, it appears to be a tower made of pearl covered over by centuries of reef. There are no visible entrances into the tower.

Investigating the ships, the characters find the bottom of one ship is torn out. A 30 feet diameter tunnel replaces the keel of the ship, which leads into the ocean floor. The tunnel is in the direction of the tower in the middle of the valley.

The tunnel leads the party down about 50 feet below the ocean floor and then turns West for around 100 feet into a set of caverns of the Watertemple.

Entering the caverns, the heroes get attacked by the monsters, protecting the Watertemple.

AnMon 5.60 - Movei 00.8.337 --- (3:1)

Spike 1.1 - Chiron 0.4.1 --- (3,5:0,5)

Scorpio 1.6X5 - Cerebro 2.04 --- (3:1)

Ktulu 7.5 - Gambit Fruit Beta 1.0 4bx --- (1,5:2,5)

Having get rid of all creatures, the heroes reach a big room, which is illuminated by a dim green glow. This room serves as the Head Clerics chambers. A kelp bed, stone chest (closed but not locked), stone shelves with strange items on them and a small stand with a huge pearl sitting before a coral throne are the only items in this room.

When the Mage removes the pearl from the stand, it turns into a Jewel of Attacks:

Ktulu 7.5 - Rybka 1.01 Beta 9 opti --- (1:3)

Scorpio 1.6X5 - Rybka 1.01 Beta 9 opti --- (0:4)

Pharaon 3.3 - Rybka 1.01 Beta 9 opti --- (1,5:2,5) !!!

Spike 1.1 - Rybka 1.01 Beta 9 opti --- (1,5:2,5)

The Charith Party fought very bravely here. 2000 hit- and spellpoints were won (500 for each win, 250 for a draw).

All the gained points in the fights were used to promote the Sorcerer to rank 10 (Arch Mage) and also the Warrior (being Knight now). The Thief and the Monk are promoted to rank 5 and are now Cleric and Master Thief.

When the heroes defeat the Jewel, they can hear a bleary voice crying:

“I must sacrifice this great place that our people have guarded for so long, to the whims of our white haired master. We leave for the foul, sunlight surface to join the others in forcing our lords’ return. His way is now ours. Long live the Elder.”