The scorpion grabbed at the sleeping toad with it’s pincer, but the claw splashed uselessly in the water. The stinger followed, but was deflected by the tough hide. Somehow, the toad slept on. Bancroft stepped in to swing at the scorpion, but missed as the magical light from the last of Helfa’s stones faded. Lacking other options, he took steps towards the barrow entrance.
Druidly cast his Sleep spell blindly at the scorpion in the dark, but it had no effect on the insect. A sudden splash from the other side of the room suggested he had caught Torhu and her duck in the effect too. She slipped beneath the surface of the water.
Jaenelle took blows from the scorpion and fell as well, her dying thrashes illuminated by a fresh lightstone from Helfa. Jaenelle’s last words were motivational: “I have 33 gold in my purse…”, so Helfa promptly grabbed Jaenelle and dragged her towards the stairs. Bruzra took over and carried her the rest of the way, but to no avail. Jaenelle breathed no more. Druidly’s magic missile stung the scorpion back, fresh ichor leaking from the wound.
A sputtering gasp and hacking cough came from Torhu’s direction, followed by an indignant quack. Drowning in the fetid swamp water had woken the pair, and they began making their way towards the door, even as Helfen somehow bounced off the scorpion’s back to head for the door.
Druidly and Bruzra shot missiles at the scorpion again, one hit and one miss. The scorpion grabbed at Bancroft with its claw and missed; at the last minute Bancroft somehow twisted his sword to block the stinger’s strike, and his riposte slew the beast. The party regrouped in the light near the entrance to consider their options.
Bancroft and Bruzra cautiously reentered to guard Irulan while she retrieved her friend’s body and distributed her equipment among the group. They mourned silently, careful not to attract more attention. Helfen left the group, disturbed by the multiple deaths, but her friend Delpha joined soon afterwards.
The next order of business was to drag the giant scorpion corpse out and try to butcher it. The stomach might contain the remains of adventurers the creature had previously devoured, a potential source of wealth and equipment. The poison sac in the stinger could perhaps be used to poison the rats in a nearby barrow. Alas neither possibility panned out, as the butchery was more enthusiastic revenge than careful economics.
Eventually several party members went back in to search. Druidly tried to put the frogs back to sleep, but his spell failed, so the frogs splashed around while Bancroft and the others tried to search methodically. It did not go well;l the frogs attacked while the group was distracted, chomping down heavily on Bancroft, who somehow stayed on his feet and called out to Sylvanus for aid. His patron responded by healing his wounds.
A frantic combination of spells, slings, swords, and a frog mating call drove one of the beasts back under the water, but the second was unhurt and still hostile. A second missile from Druidly convinced it to back off.
The risk was not entirely without gain, however. During his search Bancroft had stumbled across something long and cylindrical under the water. Bruzra volunteered to try to sneak back in and retrieve the objects while the rest of the party hung back to defend her if the frogs noticed her presence. Brave girl! She made it back without incident; the two objects turned out to be brass candlesticks worth a dozen gp each. A small prize, but better than nothing.
Between that small reward and a generous loan from Druidly, Iruland was able to afford chain mail for the next trip out.
