You see a Hydra....... (update 12/16/07)

The party gathers at the pit of seven jaws.

They peer down into the darkness. They can barely see the bottom of this perfectly carved pit. the outside walls have a corrugated mettle stairwell. Each wall drops down 15 feet. By the time one descends each wall you would have reached the bottom of the pit 60 feet below.

The party tentatively moves down the stairwell. Donner making his way first due to his dexterity and speed. About 3/4 of the way down rushing out of a dark fisher in the side of the cave comes a seven headed hydra. The breath emitting from its heads are so terrifyingly cold that Donner immediately drops to near unconsciousness.

The rest of the party charges in. The heads of the hydra snap and blood flows freely. Pepper uses fire rays aimed at the heads trying desperately to rid this foul creature of at least one of its attacks.

Other party members purposely drop off the edge of the stairs to save their monk friend. Bolgrim becomes a healing fiend. All energy goes into keeping people up and alive. The rest of the party wounded from gnashing teeth, and the breath weapons does what they can to damage this thing. Unfortunately, wounds heal so quickly each round that it is astounding. Yet the damage being imparted on the Hydra are adding up faster than it can heal.

Conell does a heroic attack and luckily severs a head from the creature. Peppers fire is damaging different heads causing another to collapse and go limp on the stalk of the creature. The Vanguard is terribly wounded and spells are nearly depleted. Every member of the party is terribly wounded when the final blow is laid upon the creature.

The Vanguard chooses to leave the hydra in the fissure blocking any creatures from coming from the underdark to the surface. However, they do cut off many chunks of meat and cook pounds of it to help restock a few days of supplies.

That night they make camp at the bottom of the pit. From there they set up watch and hopefully regain what they can from the days trials and tribulations. While on watch, Barrett sees the silhouette of a massive human chatting to itself and sniffing loudly. It takes a tentative step onto the stairwell. The stairs put up a loud grunt of strain.

At this Barrett quietly wakes up the rest of the party. As he is quietly waking the party those awake hear the bark of an order and then this massive wolf taking orders from this huge "person". A few rounds of rapid preparation and the wolf is bounding down the stairwell.

Churchkey and the wolf go head to head. The wolf throws Churchkey to the ground. Conell charges up the stairs to aid Churchkey taking a swing at the hound. Others move into key positions and shoot at the giant on the stairs. Bolgrim uses this opportunity to make a magical mace attack the giant whacking at it and drawing blood. At this a 30 pound rock comes rocketing toward Connell. People hear a sickening crunch and Connell is moans. He luckily resists the take down of the wolf but is still severely bloodied by the thing.

Attacks begin to concentrate on the wolf. Connell tries one more round of combat but makes his way off the side of the stairs. Bolgrim boosts Connell with shield other. At this, it is Donner's turn. He is also able to resist the wolfs take-down but not the savagery of its bite. Nor the devastation of the boulder the crashes into the side of his head.

The wolf lasts for no more than a few more seconds and the Vanguard pushes their bodies against the walls protecting themselves from the rain of stone from above.

The Giant charges down the stairs. The stairs drop loads of sand and gravel as the weight of the creatures causes them to shutter.

The giants club is devastating. It can't seem to miss and tosses the brave warriors about. Donner is knocked almost to nothing. Connell in his attempt is tragically beaten but Bolgrim magically takes half the damage. Bolgrim swallows hard at the devastation of what Conell is taking.

Healing, and a strategic balance of trying to surround the giant goes into play. It takes a bit which causes Conell and Bolgrim to suffer another round of terrifying pain. But then all are in place. Churchkey swings swiftly and accurately cutting deep into the back of its legs. Barretts chain lacerating its arms and torso. Donner darts in and out distracting the giant and damaging him at the same time. Beams of destruction emanate from peppers hand and healing is being dispensed without prescription or doctors order from Bolgrim.

The giant finally falls. That next morning the party is stiff and sore. They are tired yet refreshed from their recent success. Two mighty foes felled by their bravery and skill. They have learned a lot and what they have learned they are now putting to practice.

Getting a late start to the day, they remove the hydra corps and make their way into the fissure. The fissure opens up into a slanted cave that heads deep into the mountains. the system is huge. Ceilings are high and cavern are wide. At times there are shafts that dart off in different directions.

After about a 1/4 of a mile they run into what looks like a well used tributary cavern. Definitely not the major rout, but used recently. They do some investigating but realize there is nothing of interest down the corridor.

A bit later they enter a larger cavern. Other exits jut off from this 40 foot wide cavern when out of the darkness their is a flash and three of the Vanguard are jolted by the power of the electric charge. They draw weapons and jump to action. They see a partial humanoid/spider levitating into the air and a mass of webs entangles the group.

Churchkey is altogether out of the web and attempts to destroy the creature but can not reach it. Bolgrom, stuck, casts a freedom of movement and quickly exits the web. Others slowly make their way towards safety. But the going is tremendously difficult and slow.

With only two of the Vanguard to stop this strange and revolting hybrid, Bolgrim dowses the creature in a searing light. With a wave of the creatures hand, it commands Churchkey to leave the cavern. Churchkey feels a subtle want to leave but brushes it off and gives a crass but arguably appropriate response to the creature. Bolgrim again dowses the creature in the light of Pelor.

At this the rest of the Vanguard is slowly escaping the webbing. The creature jolts both Bolgrim and Churchkey with another bolt of lighting and rises another 20 feet higher. The rest of the party attacks and without much trouble, it comes crashing down violently to the cavern floor.

After a bit of searching the party heals up and continues down the cavern system. They can feel the humidity rising and the dirt underfoot is damp and well churned. The walls of the cavern are wet and long ribbons of calcium deposits decorate the walls.

The party then looks down 200 feet at a briny phosphorescent lake. It must be at least 1/2 a mile across. On the opposite side there is a strange building with odd angles and organic structures. It has a stairwell rising out of the briny bottom and into a giant mouth, making the entrance to some large building that looks like a giant prehistoric amphibian of some kind.

The group makes their way slowly down the switchback of stairs that take them to the bottom of this cavern. The lake is murky and a the water warm, making a mist cover the lake.

Peering over the lake at the structure there is no evidence of life, nor are their any boats on this side of the lake. A few moments pass when out of mist a huge canoe paddled by large toad like creature expertly parks the boat. He then croaks something and sits on his haunches. Unlike the picture, he is not holding a weapon, but there is one readily available.

Nervously looking for a clue as to what to do, the party looks at each other. Conell then takes the plunge and steps into the canoe. The unstable boat wobbles and bobs but does not tip. Churchkey raises his hand sliding his fingers together in the gesture of money. Conell mentions the name of Zenith. It croaks some unintelligible response to Conell, that no one can understand but Bolgrim was able to hear the word Blipdoolpoolp contained within his words.

At this the Kua-Toa expertly poles the canoe and then switches to a paddle. The 6-10 minute journey is silent. The canoe is tippy and those in armor are more than nervous. As they get closer to the stairs that lead out of the water the Kua-Toa switches back to a pole and saddles the canoe sideways into the stairwell.

He anchors the Canoe and silently leaps into the water with only his huge eyes exposed above the water. He watches the party as they say their thanks and begin making their way into the fishes mouth.

NOTE: The wacky stairs are a bit of an artist gone bad. ignore all the crazy stairs with the exception of the main stairs going into the mouth. Otherwise it is pretty accurate.