The dark staircase descends deep into the bowels of Skull’s Crossing. After numerous switchbacks, the party arrives at another set of stone double doors and they begin preparing themselves for whatever dangers might be lurking beyond the wall. Trace detects an evil presence, so Fyn casts Protection from Evil to help boost the party’s defenses before they open the door. The room opens into a wide chamber with a central pool that is engulfed in a layer of putrid fungus. Beyond the pool is an overwhelming pile of humanoid skulls blocking doors to the south. As the party steps into the room, the water begins to ripple and churn until an azure troll bursts forth from below the surface, brandishing a massive trident covered in tiny, fishhook-like barbs.
Thinking quickly, Fyn casts Slow to bring the creature (Wet Papa Grazuul) to a near-standstill. Unable to fully perform his usual maneuvers, Grazuul is forced to stay in the water and swing his trident at his assailants. Each time that he swings, blood erupts from his hands as the barbs cut into his skin. Barnaby, Fobias, and Trace surround the troll and beat it down without much difficulty, while Krask fires arrows from the doorway. Fyn’s acidic darts put an abrupt stop to the creature’s regenerative properties, something that they learned in their previous encounter with the Skulltaker trolls. Trace saws off the head and hands it over to Barnaby – another trophy for his growing collection.
Fobias carefully dives into the shallow pool to retrieve the vicious adamantine trident and notices two underwater tunnels venturing off to the west and east. Even though it seems clear that Grazuul has been down here for awhile without the company of the trolls that he leads, there’s still something unsettling about the room and the party continues their exploration while exercising caution.
The room to the east has another small pool of water. On the edge of the pool is a modest pile of more skulls (enough with the skulls, eh Paizo?!), which rests at the foot of an intricately detailed scale model of Skull’s Crossing. Intrigued by the magical properties of this model, Fyn investigates its workings. Powerful magic resides within the complex series of mechanisms that seem to control the dam automatically. Unfortunately, the model doesn’t seem to be functioning properly, which is the exact concern of the people at Turtleback Ferry. There has to be some other piece to this puzzle…
As Fyn ponders, the pile of skulls shifts and contorts with the hair-raising sounds of scraping metal and bone. Before he can say “O Venerable Peacock,” Fyn is clenched tightly in the grasp of a construct resembling a scorpion composed of skulls. It begins to constrict the wizard in its crushing grip, causing massive damage and bleeding before Fyn is able to dimensionally step out of danger. Clattering its spindly legs, the construct swipes out to grab Trace and lifts him off the ground. Once again, the party senses the deadly repercussions of being held by this creature for any substantial amount of time, and Barnaby targets his next blow at the claw holding his friend. With a roar, the beast is forced to drop Trace, and turns its attention over to Barnaby. Its stinger stabs wildly, striking Barnaby but not going deep enough for the poison to take hold.
While this is going on, Fobias, Richard, and Krask become frightened by the sight of these disturbing skulls and begin running out of the room. Fobias snaps out of it just in time for a bloody Fyn to cast Haste, and the half-orc is instantly back in the fight. He takes a precise stab at the construct and mortally wounds it before Krask turns the corner and defeats it with a barrage of arrows. As Barnaby drops to the ground, Trace rushes to heal everyone’s wounds and tend to Fyn’s gash.
As they recuperate, the party notices a pale purple glow coming from a small crack in the model of Skull’s Crossing. It’s an ioun stone, capable of absorbing enemy spells. As it begins to float around Barnaby, it joins Fyn’s dancing lights, casting eerie shadows on the mound of skulls that had just animated to attack them. In the wake of the danger they’ve faced, how long before their skulls are added to the piles…?