Diving with Dragons

Youtube video thumbnail for Chapter 2 Episode 13

**Diving with Dragons** is the 24th episode in the series.

## **Plot Synopsis**

As our heroes rose bright and early to set sail for their expedition to the Unwitnessed Kingdom, Lieutenant Gore arrived at their ship to deliver the diving bell they would need to explore the ocean floor. Before leaving, Eloy stopped by the Spiral Lamp to purchase a scroll of water breathing from Legitimate Larri. They were soon joined by the two additional faces that would be accompanying them on the mission: Barabus Bonebite and Edward Caster, who was quite displeased at having to rise so early in the morning.

After bidding farewell to Gulfur, Pliskin, and Skrung, who would be setting off to recapture the Crabateer at the request of Gore, the Yeldin set off. The crew gathered in the galley for some breakfast prepared by Grammy, but Caster was disgusted by the monkfish-like creature that the sea hag had cooked. After the meal, Caster demanded to be shown to his room. When Wake asked Yeldin to provide new accommodations for their part-time guest, the lawyer was confused and shocked by the mimic ship's behavior. Instead of creating another room for Barabus, Eloy offered up his room to the aarakocra.

It only took a few hours of sailing for the Yeldin to arrive at its destination. Wake dove into the water to scout out the best place for the diving bell to be lowered. As he swam deeper, Wake captured a bioluminescent jellyfish to use as a makeshift lantern and soon came upon the ruins of an ancient town. During his search of the area, Wake found a large shield within one of the decrepit houses, but, while he was using the scrying orb to show the shield to the crew above, Wake was attacked by a giant clam. However, the nimble merman managed to free himself from the creature without much issue. Afterwards, he noticed a glowing, dome-like object deep inside a ravine. Venturing deeper to investigate it, he found a magic barrier with what looked like a city inside of it partially buried in mountains of rubble. Approaching a close section of the dome, Wake attempted to put his arm into the barrier, but it repelled him with an intense force. When he pushed his head through it, he heard quick mutterings in an unfamiliar language. Through the scrying orb, Risf identified the words as Underdark but was unable to determine what had been said. Discounting that spot as a viable entry point, Wake decided to search some nearby tunnels, and he found one with a current flowing into it.

After returning to the surface, Wake waved to the ship to signal where they should lower the diving bell. Moving the Yeldin into position, the crew decided that Eloy, Ezra, Caster, Barabus, Risf, and Redd would go into the diving bell while Wake escorted them down to the ocean floor from the outside. Because the bell could only seat six, Grammy, Nedra, Onslow, and Zia'ka remained on the ship. With the continued descent through the depths of the ocean, Redd became extremely nervous and tense. Eloy tried to comfort her with some music, but the tones rebounded throughout the confined space in a cacophony that did little to ease the sorceress.

After the diving bell reached the floor. Ezra used his alchemy jug to make wine. Redd drank a considerable amount of the drink to help steady her nerves, and she was able to cast a water breathing spell on the group. To avoid being separated at the bottom of the ocean, the six adventurers sitting within the bell tied themselves together with some rope before heading out. Then, they submerged and swam to the tunnel that lead into the magic dome. Starting with Ezra, they proceeded through a weak spot in the barrier one by one. Apart from Caster and Eloy, most of the group had little trouble, and Wake was the last to join them on the other side.

They emerged from a waterfall, falling into a large, open space. Some of the crew landed in pools of water deep enough to avoid damage, but others were not so fortunate. Already weary from their journey, the group decided to rest for a time. When they had recovered their strength, they proceeded down a narrow passage. Barabus offered to take Eloy's lantern and lead the way, with Ezra, Redd, Caster, Eloy, Risf, and then Wake following behind him.

They followed the path until it lead to a larger opening littered with numerous centaur skeletons. The walls of the cavern had claw marks on them, which Risf was able to identify as belonging to troglodytes, whose presence made Risf very uneasy. With the only way ahead being an underwater passage, Wake decided to scout ahead.

At the other end of the passageway, Wake entered a large room occupied by a massive, blue sea dragon sleeping on a pile of gold. Wake looked around the room for an exit or anything of interest and spotted a suit of armor that rippled as if made of water. Returning to the rest of the party, he informed them about the newest obstacle in their quest, and many of them were not keen on the idea of going in there, though Barabus and Risf were the most experienced and concerned about the dragon. They decided to have Eloy cast a silence spell over the dragon's head so they could attempt to slip past it undetected.

First, Wake went back to the dragon's lair. Emerging from the pool of water that served as the entrance into the room, he stepped onto a pile of loose gold. At the sound of the shifting metal, the dragon stirred in its sleep, placing its claw over the exit on the other side of the room and moving its tail into the water. Next, Eloy followed and cast silence over the dragon's head. Then, the rest of the party entered one at a time until they were all in the dragon's nest. As the dragon shifted in its slumber, its claw moved slightly, opening up a path to the exit. Caster attempted to grab some of the treasure as he snuck by, but Barabus quickly put a stop to the aasimar's foolishness. Being some of the more agile members of the party, Ezra and Wake volunteered to exit the room last in the hopes of grabbing a treasure or two before escaping. Risf, as the smallest, was the first to try to slip by the dragon's claw, followed shortly by Barabus. However, as Barabus moved toward the exit, Caster grabbed onto him, throwing off the warrior's balance and causing him to bump into the dragon, waking it. Wake quickly drank his invisibility potion and grabbed the suit of armor. The dragon was momentarily confused by the presence of intruders in its lair, and only Risf and Barabus were able to escape before it slammed a massive claw down over the exit, trapping Eloy, Ezra, Redd, Caster, and Wake in the room with it.

## **Appearances**

* Barabus Bonebite
* Edward Caster
* Eloy
* Ezra
* Grammy
* Legitimate Larri
* Lieutenant Gore
* Nedra
* Onslow Green
* Redd
* Risf
* Skrung
* Wake
* Yeldin
* Yt
* Zia'ka

## **Notes & Trivia**

* *This is where you can put notes and trivia, anything that is interesting or strange can be included here*