Unexpected Visitors

Continuing north, the party passed a corridor that had a section of it spinning. Instead, they stopped in front of a pair of massive doors. Opening them, revealed a second, and then a third set. Beyond that was an extremely bizarre site.

Entering the cavernous chamber, the party felt as if they had stepped inside a bubble. They found themselves in a large air pocket, surrounded by massive quantities of water. In front of an altar, with the trident Wave on it, a group of Kuo-toa was chanting. Making the scene even more bizarre, a huge crab passed through the bubble and entered the chamber.

Realizing they did not need to fight everything in the room, a clever plan was devised. Kuppies would borrow Rudy's cloak, that allowed him to teleport if he was hit. He would then cast invisibility on himself and sneak down to the altar. Grabbing the trident, he would phase step back up the stairs and the party would retreat. Ekeraath would close the doors as Rudy let a crossbow bolt fly, hopefully rupturing the bubble, flooding the chamber, and sealing the doors. A perfect plan....Did no one say "I love it when a plan comes together"?

Execution began flawlessly. Kuppies managed a stealth check, grabbed the trident and phase stepped to the landing. That was when things went south. As he arrived, the unmistakable stench of death filled everyone's nostrils as the Pursuers from Acererak's Tower lumbered down the hall, toward the party.

Realizing there best bet was to get the undead into the large cave, maneuver around them, close the door, and flood the chamber, they began their descent.

Leenia and Kuppies provided cover, filling the hallway with consecrated ground, and a wall of fire. Both of which had minimal effect on the undead as they continued their approach. In the meantime, Rudy, Alexander, and Ekeraath had slaughtered all the kuo-toa minions and were laying into the 2 remaining guards. Then, another wrench was thrown into the mix, the aura of heat the crab was emitting, grew, and then it grew a second time, and finally exploded in a blast that only damaged the party. Kuppies and Leenia quickly reached the others and everyone retreated to the back of the room.

During their retreat, Kuppies laid down a sticky web that slowed or immobilized everything that stepped into it. He followed that up with a dimension door that returned the party to the safety of the landing where they had come in. Racing out the door as Ekeraath closed it, Rudy launched his crossbow bolt, rupturing the bubble, and flooding the room.

Initially I designed this encounter to test out the volcanic dragon, which I used as the crab. After the Ctenmiir fight, I realized that they didn't have to kill everything, simply recover the trident. It was then I figured out they could do it in 2 rounds, so it became too easy. That was when it became evident that the Pursuers of Acererak had to return. This encounter lent itself to an easy out for them, but still kept the pressure on.

Wait till the next time the Pursuers show up, it won't be this easy.