The Sorcerer Shendankin part 2

     1489
Year of the Warrior Princess
Uktar19

   Back in Saerloon, our party rests and tries to figure out where to go next.  Since they are supposed to sound the Horn of Tudines over deep water they decide to head on to the Lone Ait.  They are offered a free ride aboard a deep sea fishing vessel as thanks for helping the city with the ship King Xeros.  After several days they are getting close to the small atoll and at this point the decide to sound the horn.  Something marvelous happens, the largest sea turtle they have ever seen or imagined comes to the surface!  It seems to wait for them to do something.  After a while the party notices there is some kind of odd construction on the top of the turtle and they go and investigate.

Hannibal sounding the Horn of Tudines

   They find a lever at the top of the turtle's shell and use it to open a hatch inside the strange beast!  There are several twisting passages and in one room they run into several dead pirates, perhaps looters that Shendankin caught and imprisoned here?  At the end of the passageway they come across a large jellyfish suspended in mid air with treasure inside it.  Riddick skillfully slices open the "chest" and finds what they are seeking: A key to the prison where the sea princess is being help captive.

Not Riddick getting attacked by the jellyfish.

    Our intrepid band of adventures then heads onto the Lone Ait.  The water surrounding the Lone Ait is oddly still and black. The breakers that lap the islet’s shores are slow, ponderous things that
glisten with an iridescent sheen. A rich, chemical odor, like warm pitch, hangs in the air and they notice several spots of white dotting the black tide. A closer look reveals these to be the dead bodies
of sea birds. With that realization, it becomes clear: the Lone Ait sits in the middle of a great patch of tarry water! A body of primordial asphalt burbles to the surface here to form an eternal oil slick around the islet, trapping birds and discouraging visitors to this barren hunk of rock.  The prison itself stands 40 feet tall and about 200 feet square.  Opening up the door they see that the floor is covered in a mix of sea water and pitch.  Dropping a torch in here could be dangerous!  Riddick leads the party onward followed by Hannibal, Seriade and Landon.  Rusty and Azten decide to stay on the fishing boat to make sure it stays there so they are not stranded.

   As the party progress from room to room they over come several challenges, a cave-in room that is unstable, and the ever present tar that presents a danger.  Each room seems to have odd symbols and they spend some time recording these.  They finally make it to the princess' prison chamber and find her in a water bubble along with two hand maidens.  They free her from the bubble and start to carry them outside.  Something feels wrong... It is!  Its a trap!  The princess and her handmaidens change and they attempt to tear into the helpful adventurer's necks. The party notices a sudden change overtakes their formerly comely features. The princess' face acquires a shark-like aspect. Her eyes turn completely black, her mouth elongates, and rows of razor-sharp teeth replace her smile. Her handmaidens transform into horrific mixtures of a woman and grouper.

    The princess battles the party, she ridicules them for releasing her, telling them the truth about her imprisonment and mocking them for negating all of Shadankin’s efforts to save her. The Imperatrix laughs as she relishes both the PCs’ imminent destruction and the genocide she plans for her former subjects beneath the sea.  What a combat!  They slay the princess and one hand maiden, the other one a spell caster that escapes and is not seen again. 

    While on the return trip, they come across an emissary from the kingdom beneath the sea.  He thanks the PCs for the service they unwittingly rendered to the people of Ru. He reveals the full tale of Queen Cealheewhalool, pausing to produce her crown, now repaired and gleaming, free from the corrosion and filth that discolored it for so long. When the crown returned to Ru, the emissary says the people knew their cursed queen was at peace, free of evil’s taint. Ancient magics tied to the crown led him to the PCs and he’s come to reward them for ending the Imperatrix’s long nightmare.  He gives them each a black pearl with magical properties!  The group finally makes it back to Saerloon for a well earned rest.