Spoiler alert: if you plan to play The Evils of Illmire, don’t read this!
When the party first delved into the Prismatic Grottoes of the Fishmen I had imagined we would have maybe two sessions exploring the aquatic dungeon. As it is, they have proceeded with the utmost care, managing to avoid some dangers across a further two sessions.
After defeating the Giant Albino Caimen the party were able to rest and recover some health, although the conditions were not peaceful enough to regain spell slots. They decide to explore a branch that they had bypassed previously and discover a dark cavern with crawling black walls; a closer inspection reveals these are leeches, tons of them. A glint of gold can be seen deeper in the gloomy waters but our adventurers sense this may be a trap and instead exit the cavern and continue deeper into the caves.
It isn’t too long before they stumble upon an array of Electric Eels which cause them a few problems with their shock abilities, but they are far weaker than the party and are quickly dealt with. A huge pearl is found beneath the eel nest. A little further on the tunnel starts to ascend and they find themselves climbing out of the water into another air filled cavern. A grim sight greets them; a cavern filled with bones, dead fish, rotten kelp and piles of excrement from a Giant Snapping Turtle. This is a huge beast with a terrible bite, but when the party spot a glowing red pearl at the back of the chamber they know they will have to take the beast on. Anistor and Gravik step up to fight the monster while Kristos tries to sneak behind and backstab and Oak Staff and Evalore attack from range. At one point Evalore steps into the melee and is nearly torn in half by the beast, only a couple of hit points away from death. It’s at this point our heroes realise they are fighting a fearsome creature and redouble their efforts, eventually bringing it down. They take the pearl (using Oak Staff‘s trade marked “flip and catch” technique) and decide to leave this place as quickly as they can.
A short walk back to the Caiman chamber (which isn’t much nicer) allows them to take stock of their situation and plan their next move. It is clear their are no Fishmen in this branch of the grottoes and so they will need to explore the other branch (where they saw two Fishmen guards). To do so they will need to be at full strength and knowing they can’t fully recover here (Evalore and Oak Staff won’t get their spells back) they decide to head back to the shores of the Misty Lake. It will take them an hour or so to cover this distance underwater; surely nothing will attack them…
Wrong! A swarm of Barbfang Fish are drawn to the smell of blood that lingers on the PCs and moves to attack, but before any real damage is done Gravik chases them away by thrashing through their numbers with his flail. With that the party quickly head back to the lake side and are able to set camp and have a good rest… fortunately nothing disturbs them and fully refreshed they head back down into the murky waters.
As they once more approach the Prismatic Grottoes, Kristos tries to sneak behind the two guards, but unfortunately they are alerted to his presence. These Fishmen are reasonably tough but with the help of the rest of the party these two are dispatched, however not before a group further into the caves are alerted. Thus follows a frantic encounter of missed attacks, chases through the caves and ultimately catching up with and killing the Spoiler alert: if you plan to play The Evils of Illmire, don’t read this!(a reminder here; they are out to kill the Fishmen so the Loggers will help them chase the cult out of Illmire).
Once more able to explore more deeply the party reach a junction… to the south the tunnel rises and shifting shapes can be seen that way, to the west a narrower tunnel that also ascends, but more gradually. With no real clue as to the dangers that lie down either path the adventurers will need to consider carefully how to proceed.
Old Scouser Roleplaying 