RQG 142 - Splashing Around

## Content Warnings

Gassing (possibly poisoning), acid burns, gory descriptions of corpses, putrefaction, blood, mannequins moving, discussions of mental health and recovery. SFX: acid hissing

## Summary

The party continue into the underwater complex and find the corpses of a potential previous adventuring party. They search several flooded rooms and then head into a room with a conveyor belt. As they crawl into the conveyor belt tunnel, a trap triggers, separating Skraak and Hamid from the rest of the party.

Zolf is more confused, Cel has a beefy brain, Azu bravely goes first, and Hamid's at least got Skraak.

## Synopsis

The episode starts with the party having just opened the pressure door and finding a corpse behind it. The room they are in is the same width as the tunnel they came from, and there are two pressure doors on the left and right side of the room. The wall opposite the door they came through is blank, although there is a small panel where presumably a bolt shot out and hit the dead body in the head. There is a leak in the room, and there is water on the floor.

The corpse is a very heavy state of disrepair, water-damaged and in a messy state, and has probably been in the water for over a year, perhaps two. The person appeared to be a heavily equipped adventurer, and they have an un-drawn broadsword on their back and are wearing a belt backpack and a cloak. The body is male and probably human and was shot in the front of their head by a bolt. On the back of the door the party just opened there is a bloody splatter, and they deduce it is likely the person walked into the room and was hit immediately by the trap

Hamid suggests to check the body, but Azu tells him that nobody should touch the body as it is essentially jelly at this point. They step over the body and examine the rest of the room. Next to both pressure doors there are lockers. The door on the left leads to a complex which, from the tunnel, was noticeably overgrown with seaweed. The door the right leads to a complex that had two imploded domes and appears to more heavily damaged and perhaps had something fall on it at some point. Lights are on in both directions. The entire complex feels vaguely circular consisting of smaller circles, with some of these circles sometimes overlapping somewhat as if staggered in height. None of the complex is sunk underground, but instead settled on the seabed.

Zolf wonders why the complex is still powered even though they destroyed the lightning rod. Cel suggests that the complex could be powered through alternative methods, like tidal energy or the geothermal vents. However, if they were using the geothermal vents it is curious why they would need the lightning rod at all.

The party agrees to go left. They investigate the lockers and find another two fire axes, two peculiar-shaped wrenches, and two boxes. The boxes are different from the one they found in the corridor locker, less posh and more geared towards utility. Both boxes contain the leftovers of a potion, as well as still functional solvent and glue and tools for the application of both (e.g., pair of tongs).

There are a pair of speakers in the corner of the room and a service panel at kobold-height to the left of the pressure door. Cel compares the wrench they got to the nuts on the service panel, and it appears that the wrenches might be a way to manually override doors. The party decide to take the wrenches, axes and utility boxes and Cel opens the left pressure door. A trigger goes off, but the trap it is attached to is no longer active.

The door opens up to the top of a walkway which goes around a room which is about 10 foot below them. Everything under the walkway is completely underwater. The water is slightly oily and stinks of brine, and has probably been standing for a long time. There are signs of decay on the far side of the room, and weeds have grown up and over the glass making the room quite dark. The electric light is off. There are a pair of small kobold bodies on the far side of the walkway.

Cel, Azu and Zolf go over to investigate the kobolds, and Cel notices that they were hit in the face with some type of naturally occurring acid that probably came from a creature and not from a trap. Cel suggests they might have been attacked. Everyone agrees they should be on the look-out for a creature and traps while they venture on.

The door the party came in through was slightly to one end of the room, the kobolds on the far side, and there are two more doors in the room. One is on the "far-side to the right-hand side opposite side", and another one looks like it "maybe would double-back on them one room over from the room they came in through", heading more towards the central of the complex. The party decides to use the door that heads back into central instead of the one that is closest to the dead kobolds.

Hamid checks the door for traps and finds a trigger. Cel disables the trap. They open the door, and it’s a little bit jammed. Cel uses the wrench to undo some of the bolts. The corridor beyond is pitch black, about 20 feet long and leads to another sealed door. It also has a staircase to the left that leads down, heading more central. The group head down the stairs.

Hamid casts dancing lights to help them see traps and notices a trip wire across the stairs, which was apparently made specifically invisible to creatures with darkvision. Additionally they see a chalk marking to the right-hand side of the stairwell in the form of a white cross. The party speculate whether it was made by a previous adventuring group and whether that means it’s flooded. They discuss whether to keep going. Cel studies the tripwire, but can’t make out what it does.

Zolf uses his glaive to trip the tripwire, there is a sound of a mechanism, but nothing else happens. Everybody is slightly unnerved but they keep going. The stairs are only about 20 ft long and at the bottom it leads into a large circular room with a pitched floor. The floor is pitched wrong for the room and is at a really steep angle, so that if entering from the bottom of the stairs one would fall almost 20 ft.

Hamid sends his dancing lights into and around the room. They notice at least two other doors in the room which are partially obscured by the raised floor. The flooring doesn’t go to the edges of the room, although it probably would if the floor was flat. There are spikes around the room. Immediately below the doorway there is someone dead impaled on the spiked below the stairs. It appears they entered the room, set it off, and then got impaled when the floor pivotted. The corpse is wearing robes and there is a book lying near them, and was probably some kind of wizard.

The party go back up the stairs, annoyed at the puzzle rooms. Zolf rages against Shoin, and Cel suggests that maybe he should switch careers with that kind of attitude. Zolf and Cel argue briefly about Zolf’s not-so-sunny disposition. They take the other door in the corridor they came from. It appears to be sealed, and when they open it a small amount of water starts coming out, so they close the door again. They use chalk to add warnings to the door in English, French and Japanese about the water.

They head back into the first room with the kobold and this time open the door on the far-side of the room closest to the bodies. When they open the door, a small amount of water comes out, but they let it trickle out until the water levels equalize, which takes about 5 minutes. The water in the room they’re in is now up to the walkways. The room beyond is completely flooded up to the door level. Looking down into the water they see some kind of lab, but it is flooded, a little sunken into the seabed and noticeably trashed. Some plants have managed to grow into it. The far wall is mostly overgrown with coral. Cel realizes that coral would take a long time to grow, but that some alchemical solutions could increase the growth rate, and that therefore it’s probable something has leaked and affected its growth.

As they study the room, the speakers above them burst into life, and a voice says; “How on earth did you make it this far?”

**BREAK**

The voice is speaking in Japanese. Shoin sounds somewhat scatterbrained, and punctuates his sentences with “shut up, shut up, shut up” as if talking to himself or to someone else in the room. He asks the party how they found the puzzle, but the speaker dies before they can reply. Azu and Zolf briefly bond over how much they hate him.

The room they’re in contains two other doors, although there is no walkway to them. The door they are at is about 20 feet up. One of the other doors is on the opposite side of the room, and another door is on the right-hand side. Both are slightly lower than the door they came through. The door on the right-hand side has water coming up to halfway and the door on the far side is to the top of the door. They would need to swim to get to them.

The party decides to go back to the first corridor/entrance where they found the first dead body and try the other door into the complex to the right instead. Zolf wonders out loud how Shoin would still get his supplies, and Azu wonders if there’s another exit they haven’t seen. Hamid reminds everyone there was also a tunnel to the mainland. Having returned to the first entrance room, Hamid checks the right door for traps, and notices that although there is a trigger the trap is broken. Cel makes a remark about Zolf’s grumpiness affecting the group. Azu tells them that not everyone can be happy, and Cel says that it took them a lot of work. Zolf says some of them are still on that journey.

They open the door, which is in fairly good condition and opens easily. The room beyond contains the end of what appears to be a mechanical conveyor belt, which leads into more towards the center of the complex. There is a door on the far side of the room. There are boxes and crates in this room and a pile of glass swept in one corner. While Hamid and Azu search the crates, Zolf takes Cel aside. He tells them that he will try to stop being grumpy, but that he wants to have a conversation about this after they all get out of here. Cel offers them a potion to make him feel better, but Zolf declines, although he suggests he might take them up on it afterwards.

The crates are full of potions, mostly the potions that were meant to be injected through the syringe spears. However, some of the crates contain ‘Mega’ and ‘Run away’ potions. Everyone grabs a fair amount of them and puts them in their bags of holding, after which Zolf and Azu proceed to smash the rest.

The speakers burst into life once again and Shoin babbles about them being way ahead of schedule, he still punctuates his sentences by saying ‘shut up’. He gives them a riddle “The first thing you will find is a way through the mire, but only if you do not find yourself upon a tire”. The party briefly discuss the riddle, but Zolf immediately loses his patience with it.

Hamid inspects the door on the other side of the room for traps, and finds one. He points it out for Cel, who disables it. They realize it’s quite a nasty trap; it appears to be some kind of very well-maintained poison-distribution system which would’ve sprayed poison on them if they had opened the door. They do not recognize the poison, meaning it’s probably very obscure and deadly. The party agree they’re probably going in the right direction if the traps are more well-maintained and deadly.

Cel mentions that even though Shoin right now is being an idiot and annoying, that he was very good at what he did and that everyone should be careful. Azu opens the door, and a second trap goes off. There is a large room full of mannequins behind the door, which are all in dance positions. As the door opens, the mannequins being to dance with each other, jerkily, and some of them are broken and just grinding. A very thick gas begins to pour from the ceiling from four vents, and falls into the room. The gas is heavier than air, behaving quite strangely because it’s so heavy. The party back out of the room and close the door.

Hamid suggest to use the conveyor instead. Cel thinks the conveyor belt is probably how Shoin gets his food so it could lead straight to him. The conveyor belt is large enough for everyone to crawl through. Azu heads in first and although she cannot stand up, the tunnel is quite spacious. As she is crawling, she sets off a trap and something crunches hard against her armour and manages to get through, immediately burning her where it made contact. Hamid gets out of her way so she can back up. Azu rips out the arrow and then backs up to the tunnel entrance where Zolf grabs her to help her out. However, in doing so he triggers a second trap and a grate slams down on the conveyor belt entrance, separating Hamid and Skraak from the rest of the party.

Zolf determines Azu has been hit by a potent acid and that it is not a good idea to pour water on it, and that the best course of action is to scrape it off. He helps Azu undo her armour while Cel slams the metal grate with their fire axe, although this doesn’t do anything except hurt their hands. Hamid casts acid splash at the grate, but this also appears to not be very effective. Cel is unsure how to help and stays out of the way. Azu manages to get her armour off and Zolf wipes the acid from her wound with a cloth, which immediately stops the acid burn.

Azu drinks a potion to heal herself (9 HP), and then another one (20 HP). Hamid is still continuing to cast acid splash on the grate, but he becomes aware it is not having any effect. Zolf goes up to the grate, which is like a tiny portcullis wide enough to fit a hand through but an arm. Hamid and Zolf wonder whether it is made from adamantine. The group tries to lift the grate together, with Zolf and Azu on one and Hamid and Skraak on the toher side, but it fails to move. Hamid suggests to lever it using Zolf’s glaive, but Zolf charges the grate with his flaming glaive and whacks it (14 damage). It doesn’t appear to have the amount of impact that is expected, although there is a tiny amount of damage on one of the bars. Getting through the grate in this way would take ages.

Zolf asks Azu to help him lever the grate and the speakers burst into life again “I think you’ll find the dance quite exceptional, how do you move, how do you dance, when you can’t see what you’re doing?” followed by laughter and several ‘shut ups’ before the speakers die down again. Cel translates for the rest, speculating that the gas might only cause a blinding effect and might not actually be that dangerous. They suggest to test it on themselves, but Zolf suggests to first get Hamid out.

   Azu and Zolf try to lever the grate while Hamid and Skraak try to lift it, but it still does not budge. They realize it’s deadbolted in. Zolf tells Hamid he’s on his own, but Hamid says he’s got Skraak. Zolf asks him if he needs anything, but Hamid says he’s pretty well equipped. Zolf and Azu both tell Hamid they’ll meet him again on the other side, and all three of them tell each other to stay safe.

## Quotes

**Alex**: "And how are you all feeling today?"
**Ben**: "Confused."
**Bryn**: "Yes, very confused."
**Ben**: "And angry. Like a teenage boy!"
―Episode introduction.

**Hamid**: "Just stick them in the bag of holding."
**Zolf**: "You know, because if they think we need ‘em, we’re gonna take ‘em. Or-- if they think they need them, we’ll have ‘em... Because then we’ll need ‘em. Cause we’re here... Where they are. Right."
**Cel**: "I understood EXACTLY what you meant then, for one of the first times in a long time."
―The team finds some utility boxes.

**Azu**: "Let’s not die down here, please."
**Zolf**: "Not on my plan of things to do."
**Azu**: "No, mine neither, no."
**Cel**: "You guys have some very, very specific to-do lists. I never put ‘die’ on my to-do list!"
―[add context]

**Zolf**: "I don’t know! Has Shoin been sitting in an evil lair for the last 3 years and is waiting for somebody to do his devious -- I hate this guy! I hate this! I hate all of this! This is rubbish! Honestly!"
**Hamid**: "I feel like you’ve got some very strong feelings towards the person that set all of this up for us to go through. Is that what you’re saying?"
**Zolf**: "No, it’s just really aggravating! I mean honestly! It’s just so pointless! This is - I don’t want to be - just… Aargh!"
**Cel**: "I mean, if anything, it seems like you’re being psychologically tortured, I don’t know if you’ve done anything to deserve that."
**Zolf**: "No, honestly, it’s just the arrogance. It’s just the arrogance of somebody like this, setting all this stuff up in ways that, like, defy what modern science can do, and the amount of things they could do to help but they waste it on some silly adventuring game! Honestly! I’m going to be really enjoying beating this person’s face in."
―Zolf is over Shoin's puzzle dungeon.

"Or it could be saying don’t go down there cause it’s dangerous. In which case, we should go down there because dangerous things are the most interesting things. In fact, I sometimes wonder why people have two words for that."
―**Cel**

**Ben**: "What class? We saw the fighter."
**Bryn**: "Did we?"
**Ben**: "Or the barbarian. Two-handed swords."
**Bryn**: "Oh, good point, yep. [...]"
**Ben**: " Is one of them in a pointy hat?"
**Alex**: "Let’s just say robes are on display."
**Ben**: "Ahhh… is there a book nearby?"
**Alex**: "Yes."
**Ben**: "A wizard! ‘Twas a wizard!"
―The party encounters a second corpse.

**Helen**: "Introduce Richard Ayoade please Alex, that’s a request."
**Alex**: "Okay, cool. The speakers burst into life above you."
**Helen**: "Haha."
**Alex**: "No, they really, really do."
**Helen**: "*What.*"
―Shoin's voice comes over the speakers.

**Zolf**: "What’s he talking about?"
**Cel**: "Oh, he was just saying ‘Did you enjoy the puzzle’ and ‘Well done’, and ‘That half-elf amongst you is devastatingly attractive and brilliant and everyone should listen to them more’."
**Zolf**: "Now, I’m no expert but I don’t think that’s what was said."
―Shoin speaks in Japanese; Cel translates.

**Azu**: "I’m going to shake him."
**Zolf**: "Good! Shake him into my fist."
―Both Zolf and Azu are irritated with Shoin's games.

**Zolf**: "Where is he getting his supplies from? Because if this is all filled up with water, and it doesn’t look like the elevator has been used at all, like he’s getting his supplies from somewhere or otherwise he would’ve died! Unless he’s in some kind of survival bunker with food for a decade and nothing else and he’s gone mad because he’s on his own and he’s now doing puzzles for adventurers or something."
**Cel**: "That does sound possible."
**Azu**: "Very possible."
―Many of the tunnels are collapsed.

**Cel**: "Have you considered other careers than adventuring? It seems that you’re not really enjoying it."
**Zolf**: "Right, okay, so this isn’t really a career, this is more of a thing that I have to do because the world has ended."
**Cel**: *[Skraak tugs on Cel’s coat]* "Hello, buddy!" [*Skraak points at Zolf and makes a sad face]* "I know, buddy, I know!"
**Zolf**: "This isn’t something I enjoy, but it’s something that’s necessary so we can build a better world after this. But, remind you, Europe, North Africa, and Eastern Asia have just fallen over."
**Zolf**: "So, yeah, that’s why I’m doing it."
**Cel**: "Well… Try and be cheery about it?"
**Azu**: "I don’t think he needs to be cheerful about it."
**Zolf**: "Come on."
**Cel**: "Okay. Just gonna go over here and save the world while being cheery again, I guess…"
―Cel and Zolf disagree about Zolf's temperament.

**Cel**: "I’m just wondering if maybe one of these vials was filled with like, grumpy powder, and that’s actually there, and — cause that, y’know, it affects the party, y’know? I’m just saying that, like, we could be in the moment, because you never know what’s going to happen next. Weird stuff happens all the time."
**Azu**: "Not all of us can have your sunny disposition."
**Cel**: "It took a while to get there."
**Azu**: "Not all of us are there."
**Zolf**: "Maybe some of us are on that journey, okay, so… I’m not going to escalate any of this but c’mon… seriously. C’mon."
**Azu**: "Let’s get the job done, alright?"
―Cel tries to encourage Zolf and Azu to be cheerier.

**Zolf**: "Look, I’m gonna stop, but I wanna have a conversation about this afterwards, I don’t want this to affect us for, for now, but, y’know, I’m gonna — yes — I’ll try to keep a lid on it, okay? But—"
**Cel**: "Just — sometimes you gotta do hard things!"
**Zolf**: "I know. I know, we’ll deal with this after we’ve done this, okay? But for now, fine — I’ll, I’ll keep a lid on it, aright? Good. Let’s, let’s get on."
**Cel**: "Would you like a potion?"
**Zolf**: "No, I don’t want a potion."
**Cel**: "I have some fun ones."
**Zolf**: "I wanna stay focussed, but I might take you up on that afterwards."
―Zolf clears the air with Cel.

**Zolf**: "Is he telling us riddles? Is he trying to run some sort of game?"
**Azu**: "Can you imagine that? Someone trying to run a game?"
**Zolf**: "Yeah, is he trying to be the master of this dungeon? Honestly, what kind of idiot would spend all of their time doing that? Ugh!"
―Zolf slightly peeks behind the fourth wall.

**Alex**: "It really helps when things miss a lot? It makes life much quicker and easier."
**Ben**: "So we’ve got to the stage now where Alex doesn’t actually want to engage with the system anymore."
**Alex**: "Well, the issue is, the issue is, certain things take bloody ages."
**Ben**: "So basically you want to design the narrative but when the narrative goes off you’re like ‘Ughh, I have to go look for rules now!’"
**Alex**: "A little bit, yeah. Eh… I need a D4."
**Ben**: "Well, why bother now, Alex? Maybe we should just have no traps or traps that just kill us."
**Alex**: "Well, ideally…"
**Ben**: "Yes, it’s just exclusively roll or die traps!"
**Alex**: "If people wouldn’t complain, I’d be well up for that!"
―Alex is also tired of the puzzles.

**Alex**: "A grate slams down, now separating Skraak and Hamid from everyone else."
**Helen**: "This is the worst thing in the world."
**Zolf**: "Oh, for goodness sake!"
―Hamid and Skraak are separated.

"Yes, that makes the most sense, I’m going to do a little panic."
―**Helen, after Hamid and Skraak can't return to them.**

**Zolf**: "Hamid, mate? You’re on your own."
**Hamid**: "I’ve got Skraak!"
**Skraak**: "Skraak!"
**Bryn**: "I wink at him."
**Alex**: "Skraak blinks at you."
―Hamid and Skraak are trapped away from the party.

**Zolf**: "Chin up, don’t die in the conveyor belt."
**Hamid, nervously**: "Yep, I’m going to try!"
**Zolf**: "Cool. Anything we can give you?"
**Hamid**: "I'm pretty well-equipped, I think..."
**Zolf**: "All right. Well... we'll see you on the other side then."
**Azu**: "Yeah. We'll meet you there, all right? We'll see you soon!"
**Hamid**: "Yeah."
**Azu**: "All right."
**Hamid**: ".... Stay safe."
**Azu and Zolf, simultaneously**: "Yeah, you too."
―None of them are happy that Hamid and Skraak are separated.

**Alex**: "And with the party successfully split, I can end the episode there! Gooood!"
**Helen**: "I don’t like it!"
**Alex**: "I do! Because it’s the squishy ones that are on their own."
**Helen**: "No! I shouldn’t have left them! No! It’s happening again!"
―Azu has separation anxiety.

## Dice rolls and Mechanics

* Zolf and Azu Heal check on the corpse: 17 (Zolf), 30 (Azu)
* Cel Knowledge (engineering) on how the complex is powered: 30
* Cel, Zolf Heal check on the dead kobolds: 14 (Cel), 18 (Azu)
* Cel Knowledge (nature) check on the dead kobolds: 31
* Hamid Perception check for traps on the door: 31
* Cel Disable Device on the trap: 30
* Perception check on the stairs: 28 (Hamid), 22 (Azu), 23 (Cel), 22 (Zolf)
* Cel Disable Device on the tripwire: Natural 1
* Cel Knowledge (nature) on the plants in the lab-room: 31
* Hamid Perception check on the right door: 27
* Hamid Perception check on the door in the conveyor belt room: 22
* Cel Disable Device check on the trap on the door: 31
* Cel Knowledge (alchemy) on the poison: 22
* Azu Perception check going into the conveyor belt: 12
* Zolf Heal check on Azu: 19
* Azu drinking two healing potions: 9 + 20 HP
* Zolf attack against the grate: 14 damage
* Strength check to lift the grate: ? (Skraak fails to aid), 11 (Zolf fails to aid), 12 (Hamid), 17 (Azu)
* Strength check to lever the grate: ? (Skraak fails to aid), Natural 1 (Hamid), 12 (Azu), 22 (Zolf, and therefore aids Azu for +2)

## Initiative Breakdown

**Initiative:** Skraak (nat 20), Hamid (22), Azu (18), 16 (Zolf), 10 (Cel)

**Surprise Round**

* Trap: Does 8 acid damage to Azu.

**Round 1**

* Skraak: Does nothing.
* Hamid: Hears Azu yell and asks her if she’s okay, then spends his turn getting out of the way of her backing up.
* Azu: Looks at her wound and uses her action to pull the syringe-based acid arrow out of her side. She uses her move action to back out to the entrance.
* Zolf: Uses his action to drag Azu the rest of the way out of the tunnel. While doing so, his flailing arm catches on a second tripwire and a grate slams down on the tunnel.
* Cel: Hits the grate with a fire axe to try and get Hamid out, but only manages to hurt their hands without damaging the grate.
* Acid: Does 7 damage to Azu.

**Round 2**

* Skraak: Looks at the grate and then at Hamid and asks him; “What now?”
* Hamid: Casts acid splash at the grate.
* Azu: Begins taking off her armour.
* Zolf: Checks out Azu’s wound (Heal check: 19) and determines she’s been hit by a potent acid and that it was a good call not to pour water on it, and that the best course of action is to scrape the acid off. He begins helping her take her armour off.
* Cel: Suggests using an antidote, but Azu thinks it might make things worse. Cel gets out of the way and doesn’t do anything for their turn.

**Round 3**

* Skraak: Holds their action looking at Hamid.
* Hamid: Tells Skraak “We’ll be fine, Skraak!”, and casts acid splash again.
* Azu: Continues taking off her armour and takes 5 Acid damage.
* Zolf: Assists Azu in taking her armour off.
* Cel: Looks around and check whether there isn’t any gas coming through the door. There is not.

**Round 4**

* Skraak: Holds their action.
* Hamid: Casts acid splash.
* Azu: Continues taking her armour off.
* Zolf: Continues to help.
* Acid: does 4 damage to Azu.
* Cel: Holds their action.

**Round 5**

* Skraak: Holds their action.
* Hamid: Casts acid splash.
* Azu: Continues taking her armour off.
* Zolf: Continues to help.
* Acid: Does takes 7 damage to Azu.
* Azu and Zolf manage to remove her armour.