Bounty Hunters - Session 37

The Battle for the Bridge

• Intellect Devourers fall like fleas to the party's mighty assault!
• The mind flayer behind them halts them in their tracks with a brain wave, leaving them open to the golem made of brains (gross)
• They recapacitate themselves one-by-one. More devourers fall; a lightning bolt from Helongum (shifted to fire) does wonders keeping the party in the fight.
• The High Master filters in from behind. He focuses on protecting himself foremost, but is still a potent force.
• The opposing mind flayer falls.

Joana: Lead the way, boss The chamber hums with a palpable energy, casting an eerie glow upon the smooth, obsidian walls. At its heart stands a towering purple crystal, pulsating with a hypnotic rhythm. Surrounding it are six massive lenses, each angled precisely to siphon the crystal's mysterious power into their depths. Their surfaces shimmer with arcane light, refracting beams that dance like ghostly specters across the chamber. Below, nestled in the chamber's base, lies a sprawling crystalline configuration of deep azure. Its facets catch and reflect the ambient light as if alive with their own intent. The control station bristles with alien complexity; translucent blue tendrils snake out from its core, suggesting an intricate network of connections. A subtle thrumming fills the air, resonating through your bones—a whisper of untold knowledge and formidable power awaiting command. The High Master: The Generator is intact. Good. The High Master: Follow. Whip: What does this generate, I wonder The chamber is a cavernous expanse, walls slick with a mucus-like substance that glistens under the eerie phosphorescent glow emanating from the pool at its center. The air is thick with an unsettling humidity and the acrid tang of salt and rot. The vast pool brims with viscous green brine, its surface shifting restlessly as countless Illithid tadpoles writhe beneath. Their translucent bodies dart and swirl, forming hypnotic patterns that seem to beckon the mind into their chaotic dance. Strange, alien runes carved into the stone around the pool pulse faintly, casting distorted shadows that flicker across the chamber’s ceiling. A low, reverberating hum vibrates through the air, resonating from somewhere deep within this alien sanctum. Whip: Gross. The High Master: The pool is undisturbed. Excellent. Our plan would be compromised otherwise. The High Master: The next room is the containment area. Hopefully we will find Akeetha within. Go. The High Master points. In this room there are eight white columns carved with arcane sigils. One of the columns has sigils that are carved over or defaced by the strike of countless claws. Helongum and Whip immediately recognize the runes as being for binding and containment. The High Master: I should not be surprised. Your long rest has cost us. The High Master: If Athleeka is freed, he will have made his way to the control center. Joana: Us dying because of not having any spells would also cost us The High Master: Now that I have verified the sercurity of the tank and power, we will need to move on the Control Room. The High Master: No doubt Athleeka has martailed his remaining forces there. Better if we can capture him intact. The High Master looks to Joana and Helongun. The High Master: Beware of using blast or AoE spells in the control room. The equipment in there is sensitive. If it is destroyed, our plan cannot continue. The High Master beams pathing information into your brain. Whip: Alexandria's Balls that's a weird feeling The High Master: We need not concern oursevles with this room for now. Move forward. The High Master: Prepare yourselves. Around the next corner is the control center. The High Master: Remember what I have told you.

• The fight against Athaekeetha commences, accompanied by ore intellect devourers and a new monstrosity: A Quaggoth! Several brain bugs fall in the opening salvos. While trading blows, Athaekeetha appeals to the party, and they have a conversation, punctuated by the sounds of combat:

Athaekeetha: Fools! Cease this attack. Destroy the abomination and I can take you to the child! Whip: Maybe take us to her anyway? The High Master: I know you are not foolish enough to listen to his obvious lies. Capture him intact, that I might put the probe to him and learn the God-Brain's weaknesses!

• The Quaggoth's fury triggers, and he knocks Whip to the ground at death's door in a furious flurry. Joana counters, and brings the Quaggoth down in turn, while Helongum brings Whip back from the brink.

The High Master: Surrender! The High Master: It is not too late -- you are free of the God Brain. Help me bring and end to this blasphemy! Athaekeetha: You are the blasphemer! What else is there to do? The God-Brain IS Blutspur! Athaekeetha: These creatures could be the solution! The Girl has already hinted at several untrod paths. These creatures are from a virgin world -- imagine the potential! Athaekeetha: Come back to the fold --- all will be forgiven! The High Master, addressing the party: Do not forget the goal -- I can bring your friend back if need be.

• Athaekeetha is a tremendous opponent. He sucks the very wit from Whip's brain, who falls again, and stays down. The rest of the party suffers grievous wounds, both psychic and physical, but manage to prevail. After the dust has settled and the party can tend itself, the High Master monologues some more.

The High Master: Let us take him back to the containment chamber. Perhaps I can steal insights from his mind. The High Master: My chamber is a mess. I can explain next stages while to clean it for me. The High Master: You are quite adept. This plan has a great chance of success. The High Master: I would say as high as one in ten! The High Master: To understand our next steps, you must understand something of our history. The High Master: The great Illithid race was a multiversal empire before your sorry kind craweled from the muck. The High Master: Our Nautilid warships commanded the astral plane, and our armies of slaves trembled at our command. The High Master: Time does not exist on the astral plane, but even in a timeless void there can be change. A war, cosmic in scale. The High Master: The Neogi -- Dominators and Apex creatures, like ourselves. The High Master: I will not bore you with the details, but instead I will tantalize you with the possibilities. The High Master: In Bluetspur there exists a remenant of this conflict. A great nautaloid and a colossal mindspider, locked in an eternal embrace. The High Master: Even diminished, you could never hope to fight your way through an Elder Hive in a direct assault like this one. The High Master: You will take control of a Nautalid. On its bow is a mighty ram. You will ram the warship into the heart Mt. Mekalb and, like a virus, attack it from the very heart!