The Elder Water Elemental rears back and unleashes a torrential slam on Fyn. Its momentum carries its strike through Fyn and cleaves, hitting the grappling omox demon as well.
Trace finally floats to the surface, gasping for air. He scrambles back up onto the platform to gather his bearings. Krask continues to cough and hits his bow against the crust keeping him entangled.
Undeterred, the omox demon continues to smother Fyn. This prevents the wizard from casting verbal spells, so Krask understands the gravity of the situation. The kobold does his best to help pry the demon off Fyn, who is able to break free.
Meanwhile, Fobias spider-climbs back towards the levers, falling into the water briefly before pulling himself up. He grabs his flaming ranseur, and prepares to fight the demon. Trace sees Barnaby floundering against the current, and throws a rope comically short of the mark. Luckily, the sprightly halfling finds purchase in the murky water, and grabs the rope.
With the party all back on the stone platform, things are finally settling down. The elemental makes another swing at the demon, who dissolves into the water with the force of the blow. Apprehensive, the party waits to see what the elemental does.
Dripping water, the elemental does what any self-respecting elemental would do when surrounded by grime, filth, and detritus.
They clean.
Bramble Scramble
The party remains on their guard for a few moments in case the elemental wishes them harm. Fortunately, the elemental appears to be content with restoring this room to its former glory. If there ever was a time when it was clean, that is.
Krask is intrigued by the other levers, but he’s not strong enough to make them function. Even Fobias and Trace have some initial troubles before getting the encrusted levers to budge.
The second lever they pull yields the soft rushes of water accompanied by metallic, mechanical clanks. Nothing seems to change in this room as a result.
When they pull the third lever, the sludge flowing from the pipes in this room slows down before becoming nothing more than a dribble. Without a source, the water-level here begins to lower, flowing slowly to the south.
Healed and ready feeling anxious about what the levers might have done, the party continues through the Festering Maze of Sloth.
Just around the next corner, they encounter a deep pool. This natural cavern is covered in fungi and mushrooms that span the entire rainbow of color. Not wanting to get back into the filthy water, the party deliberates how to handle the situation. Fyn decides it’s time to go back to an old standby: wasp mounts.
With a complex incantation, Fyn summons five giant wasps to ferry the party over the putrid pool. Fobias continues to spider-climb. After crossing the first gap, they notice that one of the sluice gates is opened. Could one of the levers have done this?
Jordimandus, Keeper of the Sloth
They continue on, squeezing as much utility out of the wasps as possible. Much of the next area is covered in slime and sludge, so it’s fortunate that they’re able to bypass it via these summoned creatures. The party dismounts next to a set of double doors.
Apparently untrapped, Trace throws them open.
He’s immediately confronted by a hulking, toad-like creature emitting noxious fumes. It slashes out to grab Trace, and succeeds.
An incredibly large man sits, sprawled out on a floating stone throne. His jet-black hair is slicked back and down, joining with his beard which has been tapered off in two directions, resembling tusks. His ruby robes are open, revealing his bloated body underneath.
Dark shadows accentuate his eyes, accompanied by a stern scowl. He is played by Robbie Coltrane. But the most jarring and unusual aspect of this man is his chest.
A writhing mass of obsidian, abyssal tentacles protrude from a gaping wound in the middle of his sterum. There’s no blood, but these squirming tendrils seem to disappear into a colorless void where bone, tissue, and organs should be. In their place is a huge, inhuman heart.
The man introduces himself as Jordimandus, and beseeches that the toad-like creature puts Trace down. He invites them to relax and take in the humors. These colorful wisps of thick vapor secrete from the corners of the room.
As the party deliberates, Fyn turns Krask invisible and Barnaby follows suit. This displeases Jordimandus, and a battle begins!
Poisonous Fumes
Fyn buys some extra time by casting an acid cloud towards Jordimandus. This gives the party time to focus on the toad-like creature, known as a hezrou demon. As they begin fighting, the humors begin to rise out of the corners of the room, assaulting the party. Traces of the thick liquid begin channeling themselves into the acid cloud towards the throne.
Fobias gets nicked in the ear by an invisible creature, who reveals themselves as a quasit. The battlefield becomes crowded quickly. Barnaby tries to bull-rush the hezrou demon off the ledge, but the demon catches themselves on the other side of the balcony.
Watching these events unfold, Fyn steps up and casts a prismatic spray. The effects are incredibly disastrous for Jordimandus. The poison created by the spray is too much for the slothful master, and he succumbs to its effects. With a single blast, Jordimandus is consumed by the poison, dying instantly.
WHAT?!
You’re telling me that a man living in this filthy, disease-addled swamp isn’t immune to poison? Everything in this entire room is perfectly fine walking through this vile cesspool, but Jordimandus catches a low-grade fever and he’s done? Just like that?
Who is Jubilex? Where are the Runeforge components in Sloth? Is casting Prismatic Spray in a boss fight a bannable offense?