032: Is That a Brain?

As the two rowboats approached the docks, something large but not immediately visible bumped into the lead boat. The thing was immensely strong; the boat juddered under the impact and the hull splintered.

Quickly, the heroes in the boat–Artur, Grand Silvertongue and Horsa–scrambled ashore. As the boat shivered under additional impacts, it began to take on water. Looking over the side of the second boat, Colzo spotted a "bubble" of fresh, pure water moving vigorously amid the cove's turgid water. The party assumed a water elemental was at work. As the first boat broke in two under its sustained attack, the rest of the heroes scrambled ashore onto the old stone dock.

Colzo was last to abandon ship, and slipped as he reached the stairs, falling into the water he was set upon by the watery attacker. Battered and bruised in the initial assault, he was pulled to safety by heroic Artur.

As the first boat sank, the heroes worked together to pull the second rowboat to safety up onto the dock, This they barely did in time, as it too began to suffer under the creature's attacks.

As the group gathered themselves onto the old dock, they belatedly realised they were trapped–unless they could find some other way out.

Exploring south, Grand Silvertongue and Artur discovered an old sail hanging over a doorway. Pushing passed it Artur discovered what could be a throne room of sorts; an ornate chair made of driftwood and the like stood against one wall. A faded red rug hung on one wall, and the brave paladin spied the faded sigil of some kind of bird on the back of the sail.

Not pausing to examine either in detail–although he did rest briefly on the "throne"–he pushed open a door to the east. Beyond lay a small chamber; a mouldering corpse lay on a bed and a chest stood under the bed. As he took in the scene, a crushing intense pain struck his head. Its sudden and relentless assault stunned the paladin. As Horsa, Hell'en and Colzo moved to help him a tiny creature–literally a brain on legs–scuttled out from under the bed.

Colzo hammered it with with magic missiles and Hell'en conjured a mystical staff to stop it. However, it survived the assault and scuttled next to the stunned paladin. Suddenly, it disappeared...