Finally, the people heading in pile into Salaam's portable hole, and teleport back to the sea cave.
Climbing out of the hole, you find the place as you left it. Salaam leads you back up the passage, to the scene of the great battle two days ago. The bodies of the pirates are decomposing nicely, now, and the stench in the air is truly enough to make you retch. Nevertheless, you locate the body of the captain, and Salaam casts speak with the dead.
"Yesssss?" comes a voice from beyond, from the pirate, though his lips do not move.
Salaam begins interrogating the corpse.
"Where is the fleet going?"
"The fleet? What fleet?"
"How are you connected to Razamataz?"
"He hired me."
Salaam then says, "If anyone has any other questions, speak up now."
Gonzo speaks up now, and Salaam passes on the questions.
"Does he haf any idears whut da varmit Razamataz iz up ta?"
"Arrr...he's an agent fer someone, me maties..."
"Whut kinda cash flow iz Raz lookin ta fund his project?"
"Hundreds an' hundreds an' hundreds o' thousands o' golds, Billy."
"How much did da pirates fund him with?"
"Most all he needed."
"What if anything did da pirates do dat pleased Raz da most?"
"Fed th' balls o' Valdar's elves t' the dragon turtle."
"Where iz all da pirate treasure located in dis place?"
"In me secret room."
"I must assume his secret room is around here, Valdar, time to use your sword to find some secret doors," Salaam says.
"We already found it," Niko responds. "Remember, the lobster things..?"
"That was it?" Salaam questions. "For the amount of gold the captain was describing I would have assumed there was more. Of course, south of here, he said there was more treasure," Salaam says. "Valdar, perchance do you know of any temples dedicated to Thoth south of here? Were I to be on familiar ground, I might be able to divine more information against our mutual enemy. It seems I am now on Raz's list and I will make sure that he will not escape this time," Salaam says with an intense look on his face.
"Obviously they've been taking the treasure south," says the elf-lord, "And not storing it here. That must have been this guy's personal trove that we found. And no, I do not know of any temples of Thoth in the south. He was worshipped mainly in the old Empire...so I assume that if you want to find a temple of Thoth you will have to travel there...thousands of miles to the East."
"This is a shame.. I will travel then to see if I can discover more of our enemy. I must concur with Pharian, that Raz probably has the aid of some fell deity. If this is the case, I need to find out, unless of course Occa, there is something more I should know," Salaam says and then questions the mage.
"Iz der any odder places wid lots o' pirate loot?"
"South...the main base. An' east...where me stolen treasure was taken."
"Does he know iffin Raz has any bigger fish (den da dragons wuz) workin for him now?"
"No."
Salaam then asks the dead pirate, "How much did the pirates fund Raz with?"
"I told you already, ya blarsted deaf landlubber!"
"Where are all the locations of treasure tahte your group stole ?"
"Huh?"
"Who else, other than your crew, is working with Raz and in what capacity ?"
Suddenly a different voice speaks, in a gloating and malignant tone.
"Asking a lot of questions for a lowly mortal, aren't we?" it says. "If you were as wise as you claim, Salaam BenShel Thothemen, you would let sleeping sailors rest in peace. Now I know you, mortal cleric, and long shall you regret the day that you first set foot on Earth."
Suddenly Salaam's spell is ended.
"That's bad, I assume," Gilstrock says, in a half-questioning tone.
"Well, it sure as hell doesn't make my day," Salaam says in an unpleased tone.
"Only Occa knows for sure," says Pharian, "and he's not telling."
"Seems I have met your friend, Valdar. And he must wield some substantial power if he was to break the link between Thoth and myself. I suggest we continue searching this base for another day at the most and then Valdar, whichever city is South of here, that is where we should head," Salaam suggests, slightly unnerved by Raz's magical appearance.
"I don't think that was Razamataz," says Valdar, looking pale.
"I don't know how Raz could do that," says Pharian. "Even archmages don't listen in on conversations with the dead. I think that was something that spoke to you there - something immortal, judging by what it said."
"So who was it then?" Gilstrock asks.
Jesse waits with bated breath to hear what Valdar fears.
"Perhaps the deity behind all of this."
Occa says, "More likely his patron."
"Waydaminnit," Gilstrock says. "You mean, we're not just going up against this Ratsass fellow, but we're gonna eventually have to go up against a DEITY!?!"
"Deities are behind everything, Gilstrock," says Valdar. "We are but pawns in the machinations and manipulations of the gods."
"Right," says Pharian. "I think Gilstrock's point is that being a pawn is fine so long as you stick to fighting other pawns."
After taking all this in BrightAxe inquires, "If we believe a god is behind all this (a human god at that), the pawns we'll be fighting against will be more protected than we are."
"Not necessarily," says Valdar, putting on his theologian's hat.
"I understand that Clangeddin and I will fight for the battle and agents of Thoth and other human dieties will strive to stop another whose views and actions are opposite or considered malignant - but are we walking into an area where gods take direct action without the possiblity of intervention from an opposing equal force ?"
"I do not know."
"True," says Valdar. "And I hope we continue to do so."
Gilstrock looks around at Pharian and, pointing at Valdar, says, "He's crazy, right?"
"Of course," says Pharian.
Valdar grins like an idiot.
Niko looks at Valdar, slightly disturbed. "Well, I don't know that much about the various religions, but could this diety's name start with an 'S' and end with a 'T'???"
Niko shudders involuntarily and says a small prayer to Poseidon and Aerdrie Faenya, tossing a gold coin into the water for each.
"I don't know who it may be," replies Valdar. "This party has had a run-in with S-T previously, but I did not think that they parted on bad terms. Of course, if we start interfering with his plans then we could easily become enemies of his...assuming that he is the one behind it all. There could be any number of gods who might be behind this."
"Who?" Salaam asks.
Valdar spells it out.
"S-E-T."
Gonzo says "OH S--T".
Niko raises his eyebrows at Salaam. "No disrespect intended, but what kind of high priest doesn't know the various gods in his own pantheon?"
"If you are referring to the Snake Lord, I was unaware his foul tentacles reached this world. I am also puzzled to his influence, if others of my pantheon are of such small status as to what I have learned from Al and from what I can see of Thoth's power here, how did the Snake Lord gain so much power?" Salaam asks, responding to Niko.
"Squeezing in?" replies Jesse, in jest.
"Mmm, funny," Salaam says, rather sarcastically.
"Well, it is strange that he would be taking an interest in matters so far from his region of power, if you follow me," says Valdar. "There are plenty of other evil gods with worshippers on this half of the continent."
"Any other guess, Lord Valdar?"
"As to what?"
"How many licks does it take to get to the center of a tootsie roll lollie pop?" offers Jesse.
"I dunno" says Gonzo, "You got one, I'll count and see."
Darian grins. "As to which other evil gods with worshipers on this half of the continent it could be?"
Valdar chuckles.
"Beats me," he says. "But I have a bad feeling that you may find out before all this is over..."
Jesse holds up her hand... "Can I do it.. please... can I." she says excitedly.
"I was going to suggest Gilstrock, since Lord Valdar would enjoy that more, but I've no objections to you doing it."
Jesse looks at Darian in surprise. "Darian, you are becomming quite...cosmopolitian in your attitudes. I love it."
Darian blushes. "I just have a long memory, dear."
"That's not all that is long," says Jesse, teasing Darian, her eyes roaming his body.
Darian blushes even more.
"Who in this world is a god who reigns over death and destruction?? Odds are that is who I have met," Salaam says, still trying to be stoic about the whole situation.
Occa shakes his head. "Let's go south with haste. Valdar, can you teleport us since you know the way?"
"I can take you to Greyport," reiterates Valdar. "After that, you can either ride on to Sincity, take a ship, or try to find a mage to teleport you there. I think it is Niko's plan to then buy a ship in Sincity and continue south to the main pirate lair. Am I correct?"
"Yes. We will need a ship. However, I think we should stay the day and find out more about the pirates and their ship. I still need to know more about how they can sneak up on others and where their base is."
"I would opt for a mage teleporting us farther on and then getting a ship to head north and meet the pirates. Any idea how long it would take to get that far south via ship?"
"The pirate lair is SOUTH of Sincity," corrects Valdar. "It would probably take a few weeks from there, I'd guess. That would put you there weeks before the ship that was here in this cave arrives, I'd say."
Occa asks Valdar, "And how long to get to Sincity from here via ship?"
Valdar ponders.
"Probably two to three weeks," he says at last.
Then he says, "Occa, I am sorry, but I think I misinterpreted your earlier question. Are you saying that we should get a ship and then try to intercept the pirate vessel before it gets to its southern base? I daresay we could do that from Sincity, and be waiting to intercept them. I can see a few problems with that idea, though. One is that most of you are unskilled sailors. Only Niko knows how to run a ship. The other is that the Pacific Ocean is a big place. It may be difficult to find the pirate ship in the first place.
"It is your decision, but perhaps you should land on the back side of the island that the pirate base is on, and attack it from the rear, overland..."
Niko asks "Salaam, would you be willing to try again tomorrow?"
"Let's clear out this area and maybe on another pirate, something tells me this one's soul is somewhere none of us want to go." Salaam responds to the sea elf.
Jesse sighs heaviy. "Let's get moving and we can deal with the details later. I am sure that OCCA, insane has he may be, knows what is best. Right Occa?"
You return to the main sea-cave. There, Salaam casts another stone tell...this time on a rock overlooking the water.
"Like...yeah, man..?" asks the stone in a slurred voice. It sounds like Timothy Leary.
"Where did the boat go and who was the present captain?" Salaam asks.
"Don't know where it went, man. The captain's name was...High...liner."
"Valdar, any idea?" Salaam asks then focus back on the wall. "What direction did they sail in?? and did anyone say where they were heading?"
"I thought we concluded that they were heading south." says Valdar.
Gonzo offers up:
1) What kind-o ship iz da pirates sailin' in dat deys disappears so fast?
The stone ponders for awhile.
"Like...a sailboat...man. Two big sticks sticking up out of it...like big joints. Think they...called it a schooner..?"
2) How many pirates got away with the ship?
"Like...dozens, man..."
3) Does the ship have any special powers the pirates bragged about here?
"They...like never said..."
When this is done, Valdar asks, "So are we going upstairs to look around the areas we missed earlier, or are we heading back to camp?"
The original plan was to head upstairs, so rather than fight the stream, Valdar teleports you all back up to the top level...hoping that someone else has a teleport spell to get you back to camp when you are done.
Soon you find yourselves back on the first level of this place.
"Let's go back towards the area where we found the secret rooms, only head northeast instead of southwest," Valdar suggests. You do so.
From the "T" intersection, then, you head 60' northeast. After 40' the passage turns northwest...remaining 20' wide. It runs north for 40', then turns north, becoming 10' wide. It goes north for 60', turning east after 50'.
Going around the corner, you see that the passage only runs for another 30' or so, before ending.
Floating down there is a big fat beholder.
"Yo-ho-ho!" he says with a toothy smile, and starts blasting rays at you.
"Crap!" Niko cries out, ducking back around the corner.
Once safely there, he asks, "Any chance it's just an illusion?"
Jesse lets out a gasp and then ducks behind the wall. She then throws her magic darts at the center eye of the creature. She misses by a country mile.
Darian tries to absorb the rays using his psionics. "What do we do now?"
Four rays come shooting in. Darian sucks them all in like some psionic sponge, losing 21 strength points in the process.
Occa dimension doors behind the beholder and then opens up with magic missiles to his backside.
Pharian also teleports himself behind the beholder and casts up to three magic missiles at it.
Occa's single spell blasts into the rear of the beholder. Pharian's first spell also does damage, before four eyes cast their deadly glares upon the two mages.
Occa feels some force trying to lift him up. He grabs the rock of the wall behind him and resists.
Pharian is slowed.
Another ray strikes Occa...and he is disintegrated.
Another ray narrowly misses Pharian...as slowly incants another magic missile spell.
"MC, if you are thrown, will ye return yo bad ass to my hand?" Salaam asks quickly.
"Nobody throws me around, Mistah!"
Once answered, Salaam intones, "Oh great Thoth, let blades of death attack mine enemies." He casts a blade barrier to materialize in the same space as the beholder.
Pharian's second magic missile cuts loose, and he shoots the beholder out of the air. It falls to the floor with a crunch...dead.
Salaam cancels his spell.
At Pharian's feet, you find a pile of treasure, consisting of 1100pp, 18 gems (20gp ea), 9 articles of jewelry (1000gp ea) and a scroll.
After the beast is dead, Gonzo looks around... carefully... "Dang... wherd dat ding hide Mr. Occa? Even me can't hide dat good..." Then as the realization sinks in.... "Ohhhh KARUMBA... phssst like we done did ta dat turtle....and no steam pipes.... OH MY!"
"Poor Occa," Salaam says, seeing his friend destroyed. He looks for any remains of the arch-mage...but there are none.
Darian sighs and puts down his arms. "So, how do we get Occa back?"
"Wow! Another kill for Pharian! Great work! Although, I guess we'll need that other arch-mage Stiff to get Occa back."
Pharian nods. "I'm two for two on beholders. I turned another one into a potted plant a while back."
Gilstrock, waking up from a fuzz, draws Thawbreaker and looks around saying, "Where is it, where is it!?!?!"
He realizes that he is too late, and resheathing his frost band, says, "Dang. Too slow."
Pharian looks at where Occa was. "He's going to be pissed when Stiff brings him back."
Shaking his head, Gilstrock says, "Once there was a time when somebody would dissappear like that and we'd have a big tall beer in his memory. Now we just go get our other Arch-Mage...."
"Aye, Gilstrock. But which would you rather have?"
"Nothing to say you can't still have the beer," says Pharian.
Niko pulls out a familiar flask. "Or some whiskey!"
He proceeds to open it and take a swig. "Care for a shot, Pharian...dragon turtle and beholder slayer extrodinaire?"
"You know a good tavern? We could do both!"
"Aye," Niko responds, with a twinkle in his eye. "I know a good one in Sincity."
Looking around, Gilstrock puts his hand on his belly and says, "Is anybody else hungry?"
On that note you gather up the treasure and teleport back to base camp.
Once there, you tell Stiff of your problems.
He yawns, and wishes Occa back.
Occa suddenly lives again...finding himself back at base camp, with the inevitable Stiff standing over him.
Unfortunately, all of the magic and equipment that he was carrying when the beholder disintegrated him is lost.
Everyone else is present, looking just fine and dandy.
"Hey!" Gilstrock says. "Suddenly, I feel like just that much a little bit better of a fighter! Or at least, I feel like I have the potentional; I need to get me some training!"
He looks around. "Any idle 14th or higher level fighers around?"
It is late in the afternoon.
"Are we going to go back into the dungeon tomorrow, or is it time to move out?" asks Valdar.
You note that most of the base camp has been dismantled.
"Without knowing how large the complex is...and having already run into a beholder, perhaps we should just seal up this place and come back at our leisure. Occa and Stiff, could you seal up the entrances with a few Wall of Stones or Stone Shapes?"
"Right," agrees Pharian. "I don't see any reason why we have to clean out every single room in every single dungeon we ever go into."
"Wow! That's scary...Pharian and I actually agreeing on something..." Niko takes a long swig of whiskey and belches.
"Of course, stranger things have been known to happen!"
"I don't always disagree with you," says Pharian. "Only when you're wrong."
Occa says, "Thanks Stiff."
He looks around and says, "Anyone have some clothes and magic I can borrow?"
"There should be loads in the com chest," Op Code remarks.
Jesse speaks up, "Occa, I have only my magic missile wand, a staff that shoots a missile, that I cannot activate, but you might be able to use it. I also have my ring of protection." she says, taking the ring off her finger, "Since I wear this magical armour now, I suspect that this ring might help you more." She hands it to Occa, along with the wand and staff if he wants them..
Occa says, "Thanks Jesse! I don't need the wand, but the staff sounds interesting."
He takes the staff.
Occa then goes and rummage through the pirate treasure.
Occa then goes to his tent to relearn his spells.
Darian goes over and talks to Stiff.