Three of the heroes dive down into a blowhole and discover an underground grotto containing a missing local and a Sea Hag. After driving the Hag off, the group explores further ruins. On-going GURPS adventures set in the beautiful and evocative Bay of Spirits setting by Randy M. at Roan Studios.
GURPS: Bay of SpiritsSession 007
Down In A Hole
231001When we last left our intrepid adventurers, they were sailing the Kittiwake along the coast heading to the Middle Bay but spotted a rowboat pulled up on the narrow beach of a small rocky island. Thinking it might have been the escaping assassins, they stopped to investigate. A small abandoned campsite and rowboat with fishing cages and nets were all that was discovered. Nilas led the group to a strange blowhole at the far end of the beach and discovered a taut rope tied off leading straight down into the blowhole.
Ragnar remains on the Kittiwake, vomiting and not feeling too good about being a sailor.
Bro' Bob thinks the moon was waxing gibbous, but isn’t too knowledgeable about it, one of the sailors might know better
Jens Marko says "Down we go then?"
Nilas nods his head in agreement.
"Do you want me to call on Calla to give us the ability to breath underwater?
Jens Marko nods. "We'll hit water long before we hit bottom, I'm thinkin'. If Calla can do that, sure."
As the group stands around talking about it, the water in the blowhole again lowers several feet, then with a boom, sends a jet of water shooting into the air.
Bro' Bob nods, "Seems like a wise precaution"
Nilas prepares by casting the spell first on Jens but fails.
"Blast it," Nilas fumes. "Let me try again."
"Ahh, there we go," the young Callast smiles. "Now for you Bro Bob."
Bro Bob can now breathe underwater.
"And for myself," Nilas says. He smiles, proud of himself and his successful spells.
Nilas offers the honor of going first to one of his companions.
Jens Marko nods. "Okay, er, right then." Jens crosses himself, then grabs the robe and heads down
"This spell only lasts for a minute, but I can extend it if needed," Nilas explains.
Jens hops in the water and starts swimming down, using the rope as a guide. It gets dark pretty quick, but there is just enough light to see, and following the rope, hand over hand helps.
The narrow passage, only about 3 feet across, is lined with all sorts of interesting sea life. Clams and mussels, urchins, and other types of underwater flora.
Fortunately everyone is able to avoid being hurt by any of the urchins or sharp corals on the way down.
After descending about 25 feet, Jens feels that the rope leads off to the side, down a hard to see side passage, while the main blowhole continues further down, albeit at a bit of an angle now.
Jens Marko follows the side passage
Though everyone seems to be turned around a bit from the downward swim, Jens is sure that the passage is leading back toward the bulk of the island.
After another 15-20 feet of swimming along an equally narrow tunnel, the passage opens up into a much wider area, there is open water above, below, and to all sides. Jens sees a faint light from above, and the rope angles back up as well.
Jens Marko heads to the surface
Jens leads the way up and everyone surfaces in an underwater grotto. There are some glowing patches along the ceiling and walls of this large chamber, though from this distance it is hard to tell what exactly it is.
Jens Marko looks around to see if anyone is here
There does not appear to be anyone in the grotto, but there are several places where someone could be hiding. A dark ledge can be seen about 15 feet up on the right side, and a wide rocky shoreline is directly above where everyone has surfaced, and where the rope leads up to.
In the southern end of the watery room, the ceiling comes down very low while up at the other end of the area, the chamber spreads out quite a bit.
Jens Marko climbs up to the ledge
Jens swims over to the other side of the chamber and starts climbing up to the high ledge while Bro Bob tries and fails to pull himself up onto the rocky shoreline.
Jens pulls himself up and finds a small pool of water trapped up on the ledge. possibly leftover from high tide or dripping in from an outside crack.
In the pool of water, Jens sees a body.
Laying mostly in the water, with head and one hand out, it appears to be a human male.
Jens Marko says, a little shakily, "Uh, my friends, there is a dead body up here."
Jens Marko examines the body
The body is, in fact, not dead. It looks like a fisherman of some sort. A young fellow, early 20s. He is unconscious.
Jens Marko crosses himself again. "He is not dead. Brother Nillas, we need you!"
"Uh, I just made it up here. Not sure I can make it up over there. Hold on." he calls.
"Hey, wait, I hear something moving around back here in the dark," Nilas calls out. Bob hears it as well. A scrabbling sound, like something moving over loose rocks.
Jens Marko tries to wake the fellow
Bob and Nilas see the chamber leads down a shallow slope. It looks like more water may be further on in the area. It is very rocky and Bob notices several bleached bones among the rocks. Some of them look distinctly human!
Bob sees a dark shape moving up the slope toward him. From the distance and the darkness, it is difficult to determine what it is.
Jens gently shakes the unconscious form and the man stirs.
Bro' Bob draws his sword
"Huh, wha?" he looks around and his eyes get big when he sees Jens. "Who are you?
 |
| Liam the Oyster Diver |
Jens Marko says "Wake up, mate. You've got yourself in a fix here, ain't ya?"
Jens Marko nods, "Cap'n Jens Marko of the Kittiwake"
The fisher says, "Oh, hey, I'm Liam. Where are we?" He shakes his head in confusion.
Jens Marko explains "Down a blowhole on Small Rocky Island. What's the last thing you remember?"
"Oh no, the HAG!" he shouts, remembering his current plight!
As the dark shape approaches, Nilas and Bro Bob get a better look at it, a Sea Hag!
Nilas cries out, “A hag???!!!!”
 |
| The Hag! |
Jens Marko says "Stay put - I'll be right back!" Jens dives off the ledge and swims to join his friends!
Bro' Bob stands ready and calls out, "Good afternoon Ma'am. We're sorry to intrude, but we're searching for a couple of assassins who attacked us two nights ago. A man and a woman, both in red cloaks. Have you by any chance seen them?"
As the Hag approaches, Nilas and Bob see that she is hideous, so horrifyingly ugly that it makes them feel weak in the knees!
Bro Bob feels his legs weaken.
Nilas calls upon Calla for the power of Bravery for Brother Bob! "Calla, make my friend as dauntless as a hurricane!"
The Sea Hag moves up and glares at Nilas, giving him the Evil Eye!
Jens Marko swims
Liam shouts, "Watch out for her Evil Eye! She's a right bitch, that one!"
The Sea Hag hisses and vocalizes something in response to Liam's insult that sounds like trying to talk while gargling a mouthful of water.
Bro' Bob drops his buckler and snatches a throwing spike from his harness and throws it at her
She tries to dodge but fails to do so
The metal dart hits her and sinks in deeply. She lets out a garbled cry of pain.
Nilas thrusts as the Hag with his spear
Nilas' attack misses its mark
The Sea Hag backs off and again tries to Glare at Nilas.
Bob is again weakened by the horrific visage of the Hag!
Bro' Bob grabs and hurls another spike at her
The second dart hits her in the shoulder but falls to the ground, failing to penetrate her green, warty flesh.
Nilas attempts to cast a LIGHT spell, "Calla, giv os lys" focusing on the spot between Nilas and the Hag
Nilas says"Darn it! Must be too wet and dark down here"
She turns and dives into a pool of water behind her, disappearing into the watery gloom.
'Did you get her?" Liam cries out weakly from the ledge across the way.
Nilas says"Who was that?"
Bro' Bob calls back, "Drove her off is all"
"She might come back! Be careful!" Liam suggests.
Bro' Bob retrieves his second dart and buckler
Nilas says"Can she go somewhere else from that pool?"
Bro' Bob keeps his broadswrod drawn
Nilas attempts to look around more. Once again calling for light
Nilas says"Yeah, I'm thinking we need a torch"
Calla's light does not want to shine down here.
Jens Marko climbs out of the water
Jens Marko readies his hatchet
Nilas says"Jens, watch it, I wonder if she can come out from behind us here?
Jens Marko says "Did you guys say you saw a hag?"
Nilas readies a javelin
Bro' Bob calls out, "Is that your rowboat on the beach?""
"Yes, my boat up on the small rocky island above." Liam says.
Nilas says"Liam? Isn't that the guy that Maddie was telling us about? with the sunken treasure?"
Jens Marko asks "How did you end up there unconscious? Did you fight the hag too?"
"Awww, shit. She doesn't know how to keep her mouth shut, I never should have told her about that. No, there's no treasure," he says.
Nilas says'So this has nothing to do with the assassins. We need to settle this quickly and rescue this guy and get back on our mission"
Bro' Bob says to the others, "No point in hanging around then." He then shouts out the pool, "You could have just said they haven't been here!"
Nilas says"Maddie said that you were looking for a crew to help you find this treasure. If we find it and rescue you, we would want a fair share...but if there is no treasure here, we can just go back on our way...."
"Who? What? Yes I fought the Hag, not much of a fight, though, she weakened me and I fled across the pool. She chased me and I climbed up here. Apparently she can't climb or something. She left me along. I've been stuck here for several days. Do you have any food? I am really hungry," Liam says.
Nilas starts making his way cautiously to the pool where the hag dove in.
Jens Marko says "Hold fast. We'll be back in a moment."
Nilas sees more bones around and in the second pool. He can see a third pool, just beyond the 2nd one.
Nilas says"Hmm, I have an idea.......
"
The third pool stretches out around the corner to the right, out of sight.
Nilas says"Hey guys there is another pool back here"
A small bit of water can be seen dribbling over a tiny waterfall to the third pool.
The second pool is frothy and ebbing up and down. It is clearly also connected with the sea outside.
The damp smell of sea water and death fills this room.
Jens Marko looks into the pool in front of him
Bro' Bob looks around to see if there's any gear or anything from the dead, or just bones
Jens Marko says "Hey, Nillas, can you send that light ahead? Maybe we can see something before we get there."
Bob finds what looks like old, corroded metal tools. Shovel and pick heads. They are VERY old and useless.
Jens Marko says "Er, sorry, never mind..."
Nilas says"I can't seem to get the light to work down here"
'I can try one more time, but it is not very bright"
Jens Marko shakes his head. "No doubt the eveil hag has cursed this place to darkness. Makes sense..."
"Um, hey, where are you going? Please don't leave me here. Yes there is treasure here, but I can't get to it! I will show you and share with you though, please, give me some food, I'm starving!" Liam pleads
Nilas says"Just relax Liam, we can't do anything until this Hag is dealt with. Calla's will brought us here no doubt to purge this foul creature from this area so it would not harm any more"
Bro' Bob says to his companions, "Let's get back to our mission. We can come back again, better prepared next time"
"You can't give me some food until the hag is gone?" he says, defeated.
Nilas says"Third time's a charm!"
The entire chamber is filled with Calla's light!
Bro' Bob calls back to him. "We have to get you to the ship"
Nilas says"I have an idea, maybe a way to flush her out...or at least mess with her"
"Ok, I am too weak to climb down from here, though, will you help me, at least?" he asks.
Bro' Bob replies, "Yes, we'll get you out of here, just sit tight"
Nilas says,"We can bring Liam here and I can maybe heal him a tad to help stabilze him"
"I can make a big boom sound in the water and maybe that will flush her out or at least possibly deafen her"
Nilas looks for a way to get around the pool
There is no real ledge around the pool, but one might be able to climb around.
Nilas probes the pool with his spear to feel how deep it is
Jens Marko says "Ooo - can your light go underwater? Maybe drive her away?"
The sides of the pool seem to be fairly steep, it seems the pool is quite deep, at least deeper than his spear.
Nilas says,"Yes, I can move the light"
Nilas concentrates to move the light into the water
Nilas says,"Hmm, this pool may be very deep"
"Let's see if I can flush her out"
The light dips down beneath the surface. It illuminates the pool quite a bit, showing that it is a deep fissure leading down. You see the Hag, about 20' down but when the light submerges, she quickly swims away, further down around an outcropping of rock. There are numerous openings in the sides of the pool.
Nilas says,"Everyone, plug your ears, just in case"
Jens Marko plugs his ears
Bro' Bob sheaths his sword and plugs his ears
Nilas points his spear at the water and calls out
Nilas shouts,”Torden!", and calls upon Calla for a Thunderclap spell to burst under the water
Nilas grunts. Tries again,
Nilas says, "TORDEN!"
Nilas' spell goes off, creating a muffled boom beneath the water. Almost immediately, several small, dead fish, a few crustaceans, and other debris fills the small pool, making it difficult to see. The Hag does not reveal herself again, though.
Nilas says, "Well, if nothing else, maybe it scared her away that we can go through to the next pool?"
"What in the heck was that?" Liam calls out from the ledge in the main chamber.
Nilas says, "A Kiss from Calla, Thunderclap"
Nilas concentrates to move the light back to the surface area and between the two pools
Liam can be heard quietly "ooohhhh"-ing from the other room.
The third pool, which is a few inches lower than the other pool, seems much calmer than the 2nd pool, which continues to ebb and flow quite a bit.
Nilas says, 'Bob and Jens, Watch my back"
Nilas attempts to swim to the other pool
Jens Marko dives in to join nillas
Jens and Nilas swim over to the third pool.
This pool seems much shallower, only 4 feet deep at the center.
Mostly just an overflow for the 2nd pool.
Nilas slides over the wall
Nilas brings the light over
Off to the right, a set of stairs are carved into the rock wall, about 3 feet above the waterline.
Nilas says, 'Well that's different.."
Nilas says, "bob you should join us"
Jens Marko wades over to the tunnel to the north and up the stairs. "Let's go, Nillas!"
Bro' Bob calls back, "Once you're both out, I'll cross too"
Bro' Bob calls, "Hey, one of you should be on overwatch as I cross"
NIlas turns around to watch Bob cross the 2nd pool.
Bob manages to cross the pool.
The Hag still does not reveal herself.
Nilas climbs the stairs
Nilas brings the light over
Jens clambers up easily.
The stairs climb steeply, cut directly into the stone. After a few steps up, they are no longer wet and slippery but another 10 feet or so and it ends in a steep rock wall. There is a bit of rock debris at the base of the rock wall. Looking up, it appears that the passage continues on upward, though it is nearly 15 feet up.
Nilas says, “Interesting.....a way out?”
There is no light shining from up there, but it looks to go .... somewhere...
Nilas brings the light up
From way back in the main cavern, you hear Liam's voice echoing quietly, "Hey, where did you go... go... go..."
Nilas says, "Maybe we should bring LIam with us?"
Jens says that he appeared to be too weak to do so. He is safer up on the ledge.
"That looks like a tough climb. Straight up. Not too much of a fall, but 15 feet onto stone, that'll hurt!" Jens ponders.
Nilas says, "I can watch you and be prepared to slow you if you would fall"
"or if more strength would aid you, I can try that"
Bro' Bob replies, "No, just spot me."
Jens tries to help everyone else climb with his superior climbing skills.
Jens shouts out suggestions for handholds while Bob makes his way up.
Nilas makes it about halfway up then loses his grip and falls.
Jens keeps Nilas from falling down the stairs after he falls trying to climb.
Nilas says, “ouch, ugh.....mmaybe I will wait here until you get some rope or something”
Bob, at the top of the wall, sees there are few more steps up then it opens up into a wider space, The light from Nilas' candle light casts some light up here but not much.
Jens Marko says "C;;mon, Callast, I know you can make it!"
Nilas tries again after healing himself.
This time, after falling, Nilas is unhurt at least.
Nilas starts dropping armor and javelins
Bro' Bob calls down, "Can you send the light up for a minute? I'll see if there's anything up here that might help"
Nilas sends the light up
The light floats up revealing an interesting and completely unexpected sight.
This rectangular room has a metal portal/door in the far wall flanked by two carved stone snakes. A colorful, but dusty, mosaic lines the wall behind the each snake. There is no visible handle on the oval metal door. Several piles of bones, some human, some not, lie on the floor amid several shallow pools of water.
Bob relays what he is seeing up above.
Nilas says, "Now that's something I would not want to go into without my armor or other stuff. Oh boy, what did we get ourselves into?"
Bro' Bob calls down, "Hang on, I've found a bit of rope"
After some more trying, Nilas and Jens make it to the top of the climb with all of Nilas' gear as well. The group then sees what Bob had described. The door is made of some old, corroded metal, but still looks stout.
Nilas suits back up in armor
Up on the upper level, everyone looks at the door and carved stone snakes.
once dressed up again, Nilas probes the pools with his spear
In the mosaic around the snakes, Nilas sees some imagery that might be referring to Calla: waves, lightning, anchors, etc.
The pools are merely puddles formed from dripping water from the ceiling above. At this point, Jens and Nilas agree that they are still just slightly below sea level.
Nilas walks up to the doors, puts his hand upon it
Jens Marko shows fear in his eyes at the dangerous spooky nature of this room.
Jens Marko says "Brother ,are you sure we will not anger the spirits if we mess with this place?"
Nilas says, 'These markings, look like it is a symbol to Calla"
As Nilas touches the door, the two snakes crackle and shake and burst forth from the walls, ready to attack!Nilas steps back in a defensive stance while Bro' Bob readies his buckler.
Session Notes
The characters head down the blowhole, find a missing local, battle a Sea Hag, and explore some unexpected areas! We were missing Stephen/ Ragnar againCast of Characters:
Brother Robert (Bro Bob) D'Nagien, a young Enibrian monk and archer - played by Amergin KJens Marko, a young Captain sailing his dory all over the bay - played by Arne J
Callast Nilas Orkan, a young priest of Calla the Storm Goddess - played by Mike B
Callast Nilas Orkan, a young priest of Calla the Storm Goddess - played by Mike B
and GMJasonGURPS as the DM
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