Session 24: Into the Depths Report

General Summary

Our journey continues as the party wakes up to their hosts providing breakfast for the team.  Their ilfated attemt at cooking land food results in beef that tastes more like sushi or shrip then red meat, but otherwise very palatable.  King Mordon and Princess Vindoo meet the party; discussing that the three ships will be ready to depart within the hour when the party is ready.  King Mordon offers to have the magic-users of the merfolk embue the party's armor with properties that can aid them in their mission during the full day journey to the aboleth's lair.  The party agrees, with the armor being prepared throughout the journey but before the intended arrival time 24 hours later.   On departure, the three ships set off away from the luminous glow of the underwater city and within an hour descend into the depths of a rocky cavern.  The pitch black of the surrounding waters disturbed only by the faint glow of the few lights on the ship.  The captain of the ship effortlessly navigates the ship through the pitch black cavern.  Several unnerving hours later, the darkness is interrupted by a mysterious glowing orb, bouncing along in the distance.  This orb moves unusually, against the movements of the ship - sharing that it is not fixed to a cavern wall.  With extremely accute perception, Ilyana notices a subtle reflection of the orb's light on massive razorsharp teeth about 2-3 feet in length.   The merfolk soldiers immediately arm themselves and jump overboard, transforming into finned creatures and disappearing from view into the murky depths.   Before the party can respond, the massive mouth of an angler fish is revealed as it bites down on the starboard bow.  Following a failed dexterity saving throw, Incyra is caught off gaurd, captured in the razor sharp teeth and pulled outside the airfilled bubble into the crushing depths.  Through sheer luck alone, Fara reaches out and grabs Incyra, holding on as she is dragged against the outside of the ship's hull and nearly drowned in the process before being pulled back inside the magical bubble onto the deck.   The party prepares itself for battle against the massive angler fish.  Fara's attempt with a fire bolt results in a sublte fizzle in the water as the magic passes harmlessly outside of the magical oxygen filled environment into the watery depths.  The angler fish attacks from above this time, biting downward towards the party while member after member attacks it before it can retreat.  Ilyana throws her saber with great precision into the eye of the massive creature, retrieved later by Bril during a successful axe attack.  As the angler fish is finally pulled free from the magical bubble surrounding the ship, the captain of the underwater vessel deploys a massive vertical blade with heated metal properties, cutting into the foe and searing it's flesh as he barrel rolls the ship through the cavern.   The next round of combat begins with the party somewhat off balance - the ship oriented sideways in the cavern, the magic of the merfolk pulling them towards the lower deck while gravity still tells the party members' bodies that gravity is toward the side of the vessel.  The angler fish, under attack from both the boat as well as the merfolk surrounding the creature, attempts a more defensive assault this time, broadsiding the ship against the cavern wall, causing massive structural damage and causing at least one of the magic users to be lost after splintering the hull of the ship.  The party attacks at will - causing damaging blow after damaging blow against the angler.  Incyra and Amatarasu both cast Dissodent Whispers agains the angler, causing it to suffer from two extremely damaging psychic attacks - the last of which causing momentary madness and an attack that cut's one of the mermen warriors in half.   The captain of the ship calls for the party members to assist as two massive spears emerge from hidden openings in the deck - these mast sized spears are ran forward on the deck as the ship slows down, then at ramming speed runs the angler fish through - its body shuddering from death throws as the battle reaches it's conclusion.     The captian finds an alcove in the caverns to settle in and perform some simple patchwork repairs before continuing on the journey towards the lair.  The remaining magic users finish the work on the team's armor, embuing it with properties that increase the tactical abilities of the team underwater.  The lower portion of the armor now can transform each member into merfolk like fins, enabling a strong swimming speed equal to double the member's walking speed.  In addition, each set of armor includes a helmet that allows the team members up to six hours of breathing without returning to an air filled environment and vision that is enhanced by sonar (i.e. underwater blind vision).   The team tests out the new features of their armor, enhancing their skills in this underwater environment, before settling in for a long rest before they arrive.  The captian continues the journey towards the aboleth's lair.