as told by the cavalier Olmas Lurecia, himself.

Oathday, 28 Pharast

Upon consulting with our magic users, we felt we were a little lighter on magic than we’d like. Additionally, we counted up our wands and their charges and discovered we were getting a bit low on darkvision – which could be key to most of us in a battle. Because of this, we set up a couple of simple traps behind us, used the flowing water in front of us as a natural barrier, and, after setting up the usual guard duty, rested.

We collected 7 sets of hobgoblin garb that we might later redeem at the Bank of Hobgoblin Haberdashery for some modest number of gold pieces and silently thanked the hobgoblins for their contributions to our fund.

Fireday, 29 Pharast

We decided it prudent to leave Nehali and the bonsai behind. Putting the latter into a haversack or bag of holding might well kill it in its current state of health, and exposure to one fireball or cone of cold could do the same.

It looked to be about 100′ down the ‘drain’. We decided some scouting was in order, so Kali called up an arcane eye and off it went. We discovered that the drain emerged into the ceiling of a small lake with stone pillars and cages that seemed to hold human captives. A couple of oni were poking them. The water here appeared to only be about a foot deep. That pool/pond itself emptied through another hole in the floor, dropping 20′ into another pool which seemed to be four-five feet deep and also had pillars – although no apparent prisoners here. We did see one or two naga which we presumed were Munasukaru’s daughters. That pool also led into a lower one, although, mysteriously, water apparently did not except in drips through the ceiling. This third chamber was moist and possibly muddy but seemed to have little standing water. It also contained some blue creatures which Kali called kite-ons. They are apparently known in the church for their affinity for torture and m
utilation (and chains!) but I’ve never run into them before.

The arcane eye could go no further, since all other egresses were blocked by closed doors. But we knew to prepare for water (Qatana had prepared some spells that could manipulate water). In hindsight this was an outstanding idea; many of us didn’t fully understand how fighting even in small amounts of water can make the battle so much more difficult.

As we prepared to drop into the first pool area, Qatana detected a magic field across the opening. We couldn’t tell for sure if it was simply an alarm, or if it would harm us. But Qatana was able to dispel it, making our arrival a bit more secret than it might otherwise have been.

Our ability to control water made it relatively easy to dispatch the two oni in the first pool. The 1-foot deep water was reduced to virtually nothing. They managed to hit us with a cone of cold but Radella, Ivan, Qatana, myself, and even Zos were more than a match. 15 seconds after entering the room there were two oni corpses. We recovered

[596,598] studded leather armor +2
[597,599] MW composite longbow, strung for +6 ST
[600,602] MW katana
[601,603] +1 rings of protection

With little delay we moved on to the next pool. Again Qatana detected a magic field across the opening, and this time Zos dispelled it. The nagas, giant snakes with women’s heads, quickly noticed the water disappear and also noticed Suishen’s flaming presence. The battle went a bit longer this time – the nagas had some magic at their disposal – but after suffering a couple fireballs, some magic missiles, and one naga’s annoying mirror image spell, “the usual suspects” defeated them in seconds, including an amazing series of arrows that Ivan shot in a single round that left that killed one of them. Qatana brought in a flamestrike on the other.

I would not call our entrance subtle.

Kali was concerned enough about the kite-ons on the next level that she threw a cloudkill down the hole before us. While the scrubbing bubbles cleansed the room, Qatana channeled new energy to we who were injured. A quick survey of what was on the nagas:

]604] pendant, inlaid with platinum and jade
[605] trio of porcelain pots
[606] carved incense burner w/gold edges (inside pot 1)
[607] pair of silver armbands (inside pot 2)
[608] feather token (swan boat) + over 1000gp (inside pot 3)

Figuring surprise was no longer on our side, we went down as soon as we calculated the cloudkill would have moved out of the way. We did not, unfortunately, find a large number of dead bodies, but we did meet a couple and several ashen and nauseous creatures. Before we could assist any of them to their version of afterlife, an oni claiming to be a representative of Munasukaru offered us riches just to stop now before there was any more killing. The offer was never formally withdrawn, but I’m sure that informing the “ambassador” that we represented the Amatatsu family and killing him on the spot may have voided it.

“I am the mouthpiece of Munasukaru. Welcome to these lands. When the storm breaks and the tide turns, you may go where you wish.”

That’s all I remember. It was a short conversation. The messenger actually challenged me! I challenged him back and it was on. I had mixed feelings, though, when Ivan fired five fierce arrows again and took him out in five seconds. Frustrated, I killed several kite-ons and other hobgoblins before it was over. and we freed the victims on the walls. We were able to heal their physical wounds but I fear their experiences down here may be far more difficult to make go away.

We retrieved

[609] MW katana
[610] MW silver wakasashi
[611] MW composite longbow strung for +9 ST
[612] MW tatami-do, large

and turned our attention to the double doors at the end of the room.