'Neath a Crimson Throne, Session XI

^{April 12th}, 2022/Worms 9^th, 749

Heroes present:

•Azaria, level 1 magic-user, played by B

•Beowulf, level 2 fighter, played by J

•Deckard, level 1 specialist, played by M

•Joan, level 2 cleric, played by A

Their entourage:

•Hildaburga, level 0 fighter

When the party slew the demon-snake, a portal to the Plane of Endless Snakes opened up beneath it. The beast fell into the portal, and Pendor fell with it. The portal then closed, trapping Pendor in the Plane of Endless Snakes. His companions decided not to worry about it. It was common knowledge that the veil between the Mortal Plane and the Plane of Endless Snakes was thin in this part of the world, so they figured he would get out eventually.

A human approached the party. Her name was Azaria, a magic-user and guest of Count Fenheah. She had been lost in the orc-infested and labyrinthine corridors of Castle Fenn for days, and was eager to escape. The rest of the group agreed to let her tag along.

Other than Azaria, they were all injured. And, Joan was out of magical power. So, the party went back downstairs to a storage room they had found earlier. There was little of interest in the storage room, and it was tucked away in a side-passage. So, they hoped they would be able to rest undisturbed.

And, they did! However, just as they were exiting the storage room, a troop of five orc warriors approached their hiding-spot. The heroes set up a successful ambush, and picked off the orcs one-by-one as they came down a flight of narrow stairs.

The party came to the conclusion that they were lost. They no longer knew where they were in relation to the throne room, and they were not completely sure they could again find the room where Laura was hiding. So, they simply began exploring.

Their explorations took them down a spiral staircase, which was well over a hundred feet deep. It let out into a room with three statues. One was a warrior wielding an oversized sword. The other two were giant bass, and he seemed to be fighting them.

Azaria guessed that the warrior-statue might be able to rotate. If so, she found herself not strong enough to actually do that.

In the next room, two thrones sat on a balcony overlooking a dark pool. The party stepped out onto this balcony, and a huge bass, much larger than a man, stuck its face out of the water. It babbled to them in an alien language which none of them could understand. Beowulf spoke to it anyway. By issuing simple commands, he was able to determine that, although it could not speak the common tongue, it could understand what he was saying.

However, communication broke down as the fish became frustrated with him. It attacked by spitting bubbles at Beowulf and his companions.

Beowulf was caught in a bubble, but he managed to break out of it. Deckard was also caught by the bubble, and it floated him over to the waiting mouth of the fish. When it popped, Deckard fell into the beast's maw, and was swallowed.

Beowulf "saved" Deckard by leaping off the balcony, lance in hand, and impaling the fish. This killed the fish, and nearly killed Deckard, who was also impaled. Only the timely intervention of Joan's healing magic saved his life.

Now that the fish-threat was gone, the heroes looked around the pool room. There was a corridor leading south, but it was across the pool and filled with dark water. While they deliberated as to whether to explore the corridor or turn back, a band of ten orcs arrived from upstairs.

These orcs did not attack immediately. Instead, they announced their intention to take the adventurers as prisoners, and deliver them to their general, Mucous Membrane. The adventurers refused to go with the orcs, and rode a floating disk spell cast by Azaria across the water and down the flooded corridor. The orcs pelted them with arrows as they went, but would not follow them into the pool. "There's an undetermined number of bass monsters in there!" worried one of the orcs, out loud.