With another blast of lightning, the kraken knocked out all conscious party members in the exit tunnel–Argora, Jade, and Keeva–where they fell next to Qeew. Amazingly, both Qeew and Jade jolted back to consciousness without the aid of a healer*. Qeew revived Argora, but not Keeva, who she could not see in the darkness.
Meanwhile, Durgeddin recognized that Blumf–still unconscious in the lake–was in mortal danger and rushed to the shore where he hurled a javelin at the monster. This got its attention, and as it swam toward Durgeddin near the cavern entrance, the wake it left behind caused Blumf to drift to the shore. Durgeddin reached for Blumf’s rope harness, but before he could move him the kraken grabbed both dwarves with its tentacles and tossed the legendary smith toward the entrance tunnel.
In the entrance room to Stone Crest, Charlie poured a healing potion into Kerath’s mouth, and the ranger leapt to his feet. Neither human could see in the total darkness, so they smashed a wooden table and Charlie tore apart his shirt to fashion torches. Kerath rushed toward the lake while Charlie kept his distance and waited for Kerath’s torch to give him sight of the kraken.
On the other side of the cavern, Jade dragged Keeva, still unconscious, away from the lake and farther down the exit tunnel. While hiding in the dark with the wolf cradled in his arms, Keeva’s old body finally failed her, and she passed away peacefully. Jade saw a menacing creature ahead, so he stowed Keeva’s body in a dark corner and crept back towards the lake.
Durgeddin continued to fling javelins, but the kraken decided to ignore him and instead grabbed Kerath as soon as he came near. Kerath dropped his torch in front of the creature before it tossed both him and Blumf unconscious onto the shore. The torch gave Charlie the light he needed, so he attempted to hurl a chunk of metal at the monster, but missed.
From across the lake near the horde of treasure, Jade got the kraken’s attention with an arrow in the back. It rushed him and flung him towards the entrance where he fell unconscious. Durgeddin woke Kerath with a second healing potion, and together they dragged Blumf away from the water’s edge. Charlie charged forward and attempted to move Jade, but the tabaxi was weighed down too much by his soaked fur.
Two orcs rushed out of the darkness of the exit tunnel and attacked Argora and Qeew. Though they were able to slay one, both the paladin and cleric fell to the last orc, which strode past them toward the lake.
Durgeddin heaved one last javelin at the kraken. The badly injured beast furiously grappled Durgeddin, bit him, and flung him into the center of the lake unconscious. As the kraken loomed over Kerath and the unconscious bodies of Jade and Blumf, Charlie unleashed a barrage of fire bolts that caused the kraken to explode in a shower of fried calamari.
After quickly assessing that Blumf would be alright and casting a healing spell on Jade, Kerath picked up his torch and began sprinting in the direction he’d last seen Argora, Qeew, and Keeva. Jade awoke, saw Durgeddin floating in the lake, dove in and pushed his body to the far shore. There he rifled through the dwarf’s bags, located a healing potion, and administered it to him before turning his attention to the huge pile of treasure nearby.
As Kerath neared the exit tunnel, the orc that bested Argora and Qeew tried to stop him, but Charlie first barbecued the final orc with another fire bolt. Kerath found Argora and Qeew and healed them. When he asked them about Keeva’s whereabouts, neither knew. None could see far into the dark tunnel ahead, and when they heard another group of orcs approaching, all decided to run back toward the entrance, leaving Keeva’s body behind.
They retreated into the forest until they found a safe place to rest. When Kerath asked again if anyone had seen Keeva, Jade replied bluntly, “Oh, she’s definitely dead.” Qeew was angered by his lack of tact and threw rocks at Jade. As way of apology and compensation for losing his animal companion, Jade told Kerath he could pet him once a day. Kerath accepted the news stoically and did not say much more.
This first real loss of a party member prompted Charlie to ask each in turn who would want to know of their passing:
- Qeew gave every party member one of her feathers to be delivered in the event of her death to her parents in Windmane, an island far to the northeast.
- Kerath explained he was raised in the elven village of Faranthalas from boyhood after escaping the wildfire that killed most of his wolf pack, though he had not visited in a long time.
- Argora said his widowed mother Katara waited for his return in his hometown of Silveryrock.
- Charlie said he would want his family ring returned to the bards Willow Temptress and Skye Renegade who raised him after his parents were killed by agents of the A’Darling family.
- Blumf was once a juggler in a circus, Kerath recalled, but the dwarf’s current mental state did not allow him to elaborate.
- Jade Eyes was reluctant to share anything, and though he once claimed to hail from the Angry Mountain, he wished them luck finding it on a map.
- No one thought to ask Durgeddin, but he probably would have just laughed and dared Death to try its worst.
The party slept off their injuries and were fortunate enough to not be found by the orcs hunting them in the night. They returned in the morning to Stone Crest, and when they entered the cave they were met immediately by a vicious horned tanarukk, which Jade recognized from the dark tunnel the previous day. Like so many creatures before it, this one was no match for Charlie’s Levitate spell, which kept the monster helplessly suspended in the air while the others whaled on it. After it was slain, Kerath used his Night Caller whistle to raise the tanarukk as a zombie servant.
Qeew cast Light on Argora’s shield, and they proceeded past the lake and the rotting corpse of the kraken with the intention to return for the treasure on the island. When they passed the spot where Jade left Keeva, her body was nowhere to be found. They entered a large room containing a massive altar. On one side of the room was a table upon which were a woman and two girls, seemingly resting in a peaceful slumber. They concluded these were Xavier’s wife and two daughters. The woman wore a pendant made from what appeared to be a chunk of the Founderstone, and the table was inscribed with runes resembling those on the Founderstone.
While the others were trying to figure out how to wake them, Durgeddin approached the altar and began to piss all over it. When asked why, he explained the altar was dedicated to the orc god Gruumsh, shamelessly flashing his enormous dong as he talked.
Moments later, a regal female orc walked into the room, which the party deduced to be Shagol, the orc queen they first heard of in Khundrukai. They demanded she release Xavier’s family from whatever spell bound them, and she simply laughed, stating they were beneath her concern. When they threatened her, she laughed again, saying she could easily kill every one of them. At last she delivered an ultimatum: Because the party had killed so many of the orcs under her command, she would need to breed new ones. For this she needed a male consort, and she offered to let the others live and take Xavier’s family out of Stone Crest if one stayed to help her make some babies.
As Shagol looked the men over with interest, most protested saying they would never consent to this. Suddenly Kerath stepped forward, reached into the bag of holding, and offered Shagol the rotting hand of Ulfe, the ogre slain in Khundrukai who he knew Shagol wanted overthrown. She accepted it and thanked him but remarked that the merciless slaughter of all her other subordinates kind of negated this peace offering. Kerath then said he would accept her bargain. The others were incensed and tried to stop him, but Kerath insisted that they take Xavier’s family and leave before Shagol changed her mind. Charlie whispered “Enemy!” in Blumf’s ear, and the barbarian rushed at Shagol, but Kerath blocked his attack. The arguing continued, and some wondered if the loss of Keeva had made Kerath suicidal. Bored of this, Shagol turned and began counting down as she walked into the pitch black tunnel that she emerged from. Kerath followed after her, vanishing into the darkness. The others were momentarily dumbstruck. Unsure what to do, they turned to Xavier’s family and tried to wake them once again without success.
* Christine and Kevin both miraculously rolled 20s on their death saving throws, potentially preventing the deaths of half the party!
Chalkboard sketch from 2018-02-19