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Smashing the ROCKtopus (25 October 2025 Session Report)

Paul DMing; Scott: Smudge (shadar-kai rogue 8 / barbarian 2) and Martin (duergar cleric 10); Dane: Tudo Fleck (dwarf cleric 10); Jake: Draxx Sklounst (human rogue 10); Rob: Vox (half-elf bard 10).

Last time, the party finished exploring most of Shaheduzzaman's lair, then returned to the surface to report to Ootherion and consult Zoozeki.

The party tasks the crew of crabmen to clear rubble around the (presumed) sunken castle, then they descend to the satyr village.

The satyr village floats on a great underground lake. Mr. Tumnus, the village chief, tells the adventurers that the wise hermit who lives in a cave on the far side of the lake may know a back way into the buried castle.

The party paddles several little coracles to a waterfall, climb to the hermit's cave, and present the monkish old goatman with an offering of pipeweed. Unfortunately, the hermit lost his mystical pipe at the bottom of the lake. He tells the party that an underwater passage leads into the sunken castle, but way is blocked by a magic barrier.

The party paddles back to the satyr village to rest and pray for divine help. Tudo cooks for Mr. Tumnus, the village chief. Before sleeping, everyone takes time to study Speculative Anatomy of True and Pseudo Beholders.

So, far, including this and previous study sessions, the party has learned:

• There are fungal growths that evolved to look like beholders. These are called "gas spores" or "eye tyrant fruit".
• Beholders can communicate with fungal networks of gas spores and even look remotely through the eye-like spots of the gas spores. Gas spores sprout from the bodies of dead beholders.
• Beholders have eight to ten eye stalks. Each eye has a different magical property. Magical properties include: charm, paralysis, slow, sleep, and illusion.
• Beholders have eight to ten eye stalks. Each eye has a different magical property. Magical properties include: deep rusting of any magic or mundane armor or weapons within sight, literal daggers fly from the eye, blindness, and a death ray.
• When in the Prime Material plane, Beholders reside mostly deep in the Underdark, rarely venturing near the surface unless at great need.
• Some observers report feeling watched when near a beholder's lair.
• Beholders can nullify spells cast against them.
• Beholders never work together and often have bitter rivalries with each other.

Zoozeki visits Smudge in his dreams and says he's decoded part of the illuminated Voynich-like manuscript found in the hidden compartment of Shaheduzzaman's treasure chest. Zoozeki acts out (aided by green face paint and a rubber gorilla mask) the tragedy of an Apeman prince an hobgoblin princess who fall in love but their parents keep them apart. The apeman price uses the Metacarpel of Oomega to sink his kingdom under the earth after the hobgoblin princess kills herself.

Clerics Martin and Tudo locate object and control water to recover the mystical pipe, which the hermit uses to conjure a vision of the past that reveals the password for the magic barrier (the ancient Elvish runes for "7-3-1-6").

The party descends down through the lake, through an underwater passage, to the magic barrier. The barrier opens when they activate the glowing Elven runes corresponding to the password from the hermit's vision. The barrier acts as a magic airlock with no water on the far side.

They enter a cavern with several pools of water. On the far side of the cavern a fitted stone wall with a large closed drawbridge intrudes unnaturally into the natural rock.

Smudge climbs the wall, peers into an arrow slit, then teleports inside. He finds the mechanism for the drawbridge and lowers it.

Is this part of the ancient apeman castle's rumored to contain the lost the party has been searching for? Tudo pulls Bartus's skull out of his backpack and speaks with dead, hoping the deceased dungeon historian knows something about the artifact.

Q: Have you heard of the Metacarpus of Oomega?
A: Yes.

Q: What can you tell us about it?
A: It is a legendary magical artifact and an heirloom of the apemen.

Q: What does it look like?
A: A jeweled collar of gold at the base of a mummified simian paw.

Q: Do you have a dying wish?
A: Death was my fondest wish.

Q: How the afterlife treating you?
A: Pretty sweet.

Martin locates object for the Metacarpus of Oomega as described by Bartus. The object is about a thousand feet to the east.

The party passed through several areas of natural cave interspersed with built areas of the sunken castle.

Tudo tries to jump over a crevasse and falls in. Vox catches him by his finger tips.

Tudo stone shapes the door out of its frame.

A large cavern with a large pool split over an upper and lower section. The pool is fed by a waterfall. There's a hole in the ceiling filled with rubble. A tentacle stirs briefly from the pool.

The party decides to stealth around the north side of the room, but Vox fails this stealth check. A gigantic tentacle gropes for him.

Vox telekinetically pulls down the debris-choked roof on the ROCKTOPUS. Some crabmen fall from the ceiling. Vox repeatedly pummels the ROCKtopus, using the mass of stone and masonry as a titanic hammer. Smudge opens the door at the far side of the room.

The ROCKTOPUS clings to the ceiling debris that Vox is telekinetically using as a hammer. It leaps into the small room where everyone is sheltering, squeezing through the door. Tentacle deal a lot of damage to a lot of the party.

Draxx kills the ROCKTOPUS with a final blow, sinking his short sword in its rubbery flesh up to his shoulder.

Beyond the ROCKtopus cave, the adventurers find a large, dusty throne room, decked with decaying tapestries and banners. A large skeleton slumps on the throne. Even in death, it clutches a jeweled scepter and a mummified hand. Draxx and Smudge mage hand the scepter and the hand from the skeleton.

Enemies defeated: ROCKtopus

Treasure: a jeweled scepter, The Metacarpus of Oomega