Hello, Everyone!
Our heroes are still in the middle of an undersea adventure. Last time they found the cave of a deep-sea monster and grew hesitant of whether to try and defeat it now or wait until they had a better plan. However, a shipwreck happening just about then attracted the sea monster and now they had to fight.
(by the way, if you look at the last episode, you'll see that I've managed to draw and upload its illustration; enjoy!)
Now that Mary could see the monster, she had to draw a raspy breath. The creature was vaguely humanoid--in the sense that it had arms, legs and a head--but it was covered with tentacles and bright purple suckers. It had two sets of arms – one huge and muscular and another long and thin. Its mouth opened into rows and rows of sharp teeth, surrounded by even more tentacles that were wriggling as it rose towards the surface.
It was huge and it was scary. And it was going straight towards the sailors from the wrecked ship.
Mary looked up at the vague silhouettes on the surface. They were still in no hurry to row away. Some of them had climbed onto the ship and were handing stuff to the ones in the lifeboat.
They looked safe, for now.
“Oh!” she said. “That’s our chance! If we move right now, we could go grab the bells before the monster is done with those sailors! We just have to be quick about it!”
She rushed towards the edge of the chasm but stopped right before jumping. The monster was rising a fair distance to her right, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t make a quick turn for an easy Windfiddle bite. Mary stared at its yellow eyes and hesitated.
A spell flew past her head. Aurum’s Stinking Cloud surrounded the creature and temporarily hid it from view. Mary heard it wretching but that didn’t seem to have slowed it down.
Then, a ball of fire whooshed into the cloud and lit it from the inside. It exploded with a magical force and the stink was replaced by an array of bubbles. The water around the monster was boiling. Its face was now covered with blisters and it gave out a wail of pain.
Mary’s eyes followed the fireball back to where it’d come from and saw Bruno. The Necklace of Fireballs he was wearing had two gems now, instead of three. He conjured his Spiritual Weapon and prepared for the fight.
The monster turned and brought his larger set of arms down on the dwarf. Bruno took the hit and stood his ground. He prepared to throw the second gem. While doing so, however, the creature raised its thinner arms in a gesture Mary knew well. It was casting a spell, trying to Dispell something. Mary blocked it with a Counterspell. Bruno needed his Spiritual Weapon, it’d be to their disadvantage if the monster had managed to dispell it.
She pointed her wand towards the creature and cast Blight. It squirmed and growled, and the skin on its thin arms wrinkled as the spell drained it of moisture and vitality. Mary hurried back and tried to hide among the rocks of the bottom but one of the monster’s tentacles swung towards her and slapped her across the chest. Mary screamed in pain and backed away.
She saw Aurum do his Thunderwave--the air sphere appeared again and the water crashed onto the creature, dealing some damage. Bruno threw another fireball gem at its face and it burned just as well. The blisters popped and released some reddish-brown liquid.
The monster looked enraged now. It growled, the sound echoing through the water, rushed blindly towards Bruno and tried to grab him and slam him on the reef
“Fuck off, Squidward!” Aurum yelled and his voice carried on with the power of his bard magic.
It was like, for a split second, the monster forgot what it was doing. That was enough for Bruno to wiggle out of its grasp.
The thin arms raised up again. It was casting another Dispell Magic, this time at the bard.
Wait, what was the monster trying to dispel? He didn't have any active spells on him. Mary frowned as she countered it, just in case.
Then, she felt all the blood drain from her face.
Aurum did have a spell! They all had. It was Waterbreathing.
And she’d just used her last Counterspell.
If the monster tried to Dispel their Waterbreathing again, she wouldn’t be able to stop it.
The water swirled and boiled as the fight continued. Mary sent out a few Eldritch Blasts but she was really worried now. She looked at her friends and tried to tell them about the Counterspell but instead widened her eyes in panic. Aurum was casting a Lightning Bolt.
In the water.
The thin tendrils of the lightning spread out, striking everyone in their path. Mary’s body spasmed and shook violently. She heard the painful grunts of her friends and the growl of the monster. They were all suffering from the same effect.
When the bolt subsided, she was left numb and weak, her limbs still twitching from the shock. She scampered up towards the surface, desperate to take the healing potion she had on her belt. Underneath her, flashes of fire and booms of thunder spread through the water but she couldn’t watch them. Her head pierced the smooth surface of the sea and she popped the cork of the vial. The potion trickled down her throat and she immediately felt the magical healing wash over her body.
The lifeboat was speadily leaving the scene as the sailors rowed away. They’d probably seen the disturbance under their vessel and were now finally fleeing.
“You could have helped!” Mary yelled after them.
She dove down and watched as a thick inky cloud spread where the monster should have been. Both Bruno ans Aurum shot spells at it simultaneously and the water cleared, only to reveal the sinking form of the creature. Burned, torn and lifeless, it went down and was lost in the darkness of the abyss.
They’d defeated it.
That was an interesting fight. I hope there's nothing else waiting for our heroes underwater. See you next time!
Take care and be well!
Episodes of Mary Windfiddle's story come out every Monday and Thursday.
(Also, here's a link to the Chapter Guide, the Glossary and the Map for the series. You're welcome!)
An important disclaimer: These are my notes from a D&D game turned into a narrative. All the worldbuilding and NPC encounters belong to our DM, and all the actions of the other main characters (Aurum and Bruno) belong to my co-players. My contribution to the story is only everything Mary-related (actions, reactions, inner thoughts), as well as the writing itself.
