Mission 040: The Deep

A missing teenager in the lair of a sea dragon wyrmling kicks off a rescue mission before it's too late.

Misson Log

Called to help by a worried mermaid, Sakshi and Ilsa made their way to Port Damali to meet their client. The mermaid explained that her daughter was exploring the ruins and was caught by a sea dragon wyrmling that had made its lair there. The wyrmling's mother had been killed by some other adventurers, and ever since, the wyrmling has been keeping to itself and trying to be a 'real' dragon. She gave the ladies two underwater breathing potions each, explaining that they'd only work for an hour, and directed them to the waters below a cliff. When they asked if there was anything that she could tell them that might help, she mentioned the wyrmling loved to eat eelhound and to beware its teeth. She showed them her tail, which had a bite taken out of it.
Popping the first potion, Ilsa and Sakshi made their way under the waves and approached the ruins of what was once a temple. On their way, they passed two other mermaids, who asked if they were there to save the girl, and gave them inspiration and a dire warning: beware the ooze.
Inside the temple, they examined the walls, finding what appeared to be pictographs of sahaguin surrounding a giant octopus with eyes on its tentacles. Deciding that this meant there'd been a great battle against the octopus, Sakshi and Ilsa continued on, only to come across the aforementioned ooze. A fight broke out, in which the adventurers were victorious, and they pressed on, only to be swarmed by a school of cavefish zombies. This battle was a bit harder, and afterwards, they returned to the front of the temple to take a short rest.
Popping their last water breathing potion, they swam on past some crabs and a sleeping eelhound, and finding an old chest with two potions of healing and some old scrolls that seemed untouched by water or time. They pocketed these things and continued on, only to wind up face to face with a giant tusked jellyfish. They attempted to fight, but the jellyfish took Ilsa down in a single go, prompting Sakshi to grab her fallen comrade and flee. Once they were out of striking range of the tentacles, she poured a potion down Ilsa's throat and the two fled into the tunnels above.
They followed the twisting tunnels until they found what looked to be the start of the wyrmling's hoard. Isla saw a broken porcelain doll that had a gold gleam in its head and pocketed two gold. They continued down the path, only to run into an eelhound and a crab, emerging victorious but a bit bloodied.
Finally, they made their way into the wyrmling's lair. The mermaid was crammed between some rocks for protection while the wyrmling slept. Sakshi and Ilsa tried to coax the mermaid forward, but she relayed that her fin was stuck under a rock. Slowly and stealthily, they made their way into the lair to try to free the mermaid, only for the wyrmling to wake up and decide that they were dinner. Thinking quickly, Sakshi and Ilsa tried to negotiate with the wyrmling, offering it the doll and the gold that Ilsa had picked up from its hoard (after, of course, lying about how they came into possession of it). Eventually the wyrmling agreed to let them go, but wouldn't let the mermaid go.
They offered the wyrmling the corpses of the eelhound and the crab that they'd just killed, which the wyrmling took happily before lamenting it was still hungry. They explained that they could take the wyrmling to where the other crabs were, but it would have to come along with them and let the mermaid go. The wyrmling was hesitant, not wanting to get hurt, but eventually agreed. Sakshi and Ilsa released the mermaid and they all started swimming back towards the entrance of the temple, temporarily getting waylaid by a swift current that deposited Sakshi and the wyrmling right in reach of the jellyfish. They escaped and continued on.
Between the four of them, they made quick work of the crabs, and the wyrmling offered to escort them to the entrance. They asked the wyrmling's name, and it told them it was called Hadasha, and that they were always welcome in its lair.
They reunited the mermaid with her mother and took a few hours to unwind in Port Damali with a few drinks. Mission success!

SUMMARY

DATE 12/01/2023
DM Sherri
PLAYERS Ash (Ilsa), Puja (Sakshi)
RESULT Complete
TOTAL XP 2125XP each
TOTAL GP 25GP each

ITEMS ACQUIRED

Potion of Healing (Sakshi), some strange scrolls (Sakshi)