Episode 17: Flaming Asterions are quite intimidating

When last we left this group we're in a series of rooms that include an underwater room with a very very large acidic eel resident. We were trying to move a very large stone block from one end of the set up to the other to open a door. Unfortunately, we attracted the attention of the eel who proceeds to start smashing at us. Malek is on one side of the eel, Meghan is on top, Lutor/Thonk/Fizzledorp are on the other side of the eel, and Vohn is in the next room shooting at it trying to get it's attention.

We start this scene with Malek holding his action, evaluating the best way to deal with this. While he's fairly sure he could get over the eel (it's around 10' wide and at least 30' long) his companion would not clear. Fizzledorp then gets his reindeer to gallop off to the room with the indentation and does some healing to himself as he's in bad shape as well.

The giant eel, not appreciating a mountain lion being on his back, shoots back into the water part way. Meghan manages to get off his back on time so she doesn't go underwater in a lake of acid, but took more damage and fell to 0 health. So the eel has a snack. Paul the red-tailed Hawk (Meghan's animal companion) goes into berserk bird of prey mode, diving at the eel and doing the distressed bird sounds.

Lutor, our very loyal cleric, gets seriously offended at this. He goes into full defense mode, which involves flames, and does one of his intimidation skills to piss off the eel and pay attention to him. Basically, it was a "rule of cool" hail mary to save Meghan. But, he also rolled really well and it worked! The eel rears back and opens its mouth up in anger and Meghan rolls forward. Lutor manages to grab her and sends her slime covered cat form sliding into the room with the indentation. She just lays there stunned.

Malek takes this opportunity to skitter around the eel and get into the room with the indentation as well. Thonk hauls off and clobbers the eel. Vohn shoots the eel. And Meghan stumbles to her paws, and while leaving little bloody paw prints, she limps around the corner into the next room away from the eel.

Luckily she's still pretty close to our paladin Fizzledorp so he does a lay on hands and gets her semi functional. The pissed off eel comes charging into the room we were gathering in. It damages Thonk and Lutor in it's charge. So Thonk and Lutor proceed to whack it hard, and then Malek let loose with a double shot from his bow.

At this point the eel rears up and completely retracts into the underground lake, and the ripples stopped moving.

Lutor strides in and does a healing word, restoring several of us to better shape. Then Fizzledorp and Meghan had the idea that putting the grate back in place so the eel can't return (if it's alive), but Meghan is still a cat. So she walks over to where the water is and starts pawing near where the grate was. Thonk was all "no kitty, that's spicy water" but Fizzledorp knew what she was going for and vocalized it. So Lutor and Vohn get in the lobster and put the grate back in place.

Then they picked up the giant stone and take it in to the indentation. While they're doing that, Meghan ducks out to the previous room to do a cat-shake to get the slime/goo off her fur then returns to the rest of the party in time for the stone to be put in place.

A door opens on the other side of the stone! So we start to investigate. At the other end of a short hallway is a good sized square room with dancing purple lights closer to the ceiling.

Malek and Meghan were proceeding cautiously into the room to investigate, but Thonk just barreled in. At one point he decides to cast "mage hand" (it's a mechanical hand that can launch out and grab things) at the dancing purple lights. Since they are a magical effect the "mage hand" latches on to the ceiling, pulling him up into the sea of dancing purple lights. He then spends the next couple of minutes trying to grab the lights, setting him to spinning like a half orc chandelier.

At this point Meghan decides to drop her cat form as there are some things she can't do in that form, but isn't quite getting what this room is for either. She also decides to use create water to rinse herself of the spider goo. At this point Lutor and Fizzledorp come in and were checking things out, leaving Vohn by the stone by himself. And he failed his will save to remain alone out there so he came down into the room with us.

And at this point the door to the room closes and vanishes, and a portal opens on another wall ... and in strides a drow sorcerer.

This is where we ran out of lunch hour, more probably in 2 weeks due to the holiday!