Boona tries to grapple the grappler, but her hands slip on the slimy tentacle.

Jurgan and Draco step forward and attack it (Draco circling around and charging it from the other side.) They both cut deep into the slipper appendage.

Ruven's ghostly hand arcs over Boona and freezes the wounded tentacle solid; brittle, it snaps off.

The creature disengages and retreats under the bubbling water, which has begun to recede again. (The creature is no longer visible.)

Combat is over, unless Bryony, Quinn, or any of the rest of you wants to chase the monster under the surface.

" Bad Lunch!!", Boona picks up the severed frosty bits of tentacle and gives them an experimental sniff...

Quinn moves to attack, but before he can get into position, the tentacled beast slithers away.

”What in the hells was that?! You all okay?

As I said, watch that ledge.”

Quinn turns his attention back to the tunnel. He gets down low and raises Lightbringer to illuminate the passage. 

He calls out to the others.

”Look here. There’s some sorta passage. The ceiling is low.”

Quinn peers into the passage straining his eyes to see anything of note.

Perception check: 10

Ruven eyes the receding water, rubbing his hand slowly as the writhing mist fades away. A tentacled beast of prodigious size that I would think would be preferable to leave alone. He glances at Boona. And is not fit for consumption, I would also surmise. Ruven steps forward with Quinn, following him down the new path.

Boona finds the thawing, broken tentacle smells... not bad. She's eaten worse. 

The broad, low tunnel turns west ahead. It looks to Quinn to be more industrial than pedestrian.

Jugen looks down the tunnel to the west. "I'm guessing that this tunnel and the other one that went to the west lead to the same place. We will see", and starts to head down the tunnel cautiously. 

Bryony tries to think if she's learned about any huge tentacled monsters in the stories she's read about heroes of the Realms. While she's doing that, she follows the others down the western passage.

"That was crazy!" she says to no one in particular. "We almost became that thing's lunch!"

History - 10

In her mind, Bryony runs through the huge tentacled creatures of stories and myths she has read about –  krakens, aboleths, otyughs, morkoth, chuuls, octopi ... but she has no real idea what this was. 

The water has slowly receded downward nearly 20 feet from the top of the ledge. There is no sign of the creature.

Jurgen, Bryony, and Quinn lead the party westward down the strange, low tunnel. Quinn has to duck, as it is too low to stand upright. (Boona will likely have to proceed on all fours.) But it quickly opens up again.

Ahead, they see what looks like an old waterwheel sitting in the channel, which curves northward. You can't immediately see out of the channel, but Quinn could probably see over its edge from tiptoe if he chooses. You can see the top of some machinery behind the wheel.

"What's that?" says Bryony, noticing the waterwheel.

She moves ahead carefully and starts examining the wheel to see if she can determine its purpose. "It must power something," she guesses.

Investigation - 18

Ruven walks up behind Bryony, searching his rather extensive brain for what the water wheels were used for in his studies, and prepping for a lecture.

History 18

Quinn looks down at the ground in this tunnel.

DM: is the ground wet? Are there any signs that indicate that water has flowed through this tunnel recently?

Quinn proceeds follow Ruven and Bryony to the waterwheel. He’ll peak around the bend looking northward to see where the tunnel leads. 

It's hard to see from inside the channel, but Bryony can make out the top of what looks like a blast furnace and a mechanical bellows, evidently at some time powered by the waterwheel.

Quinn examines the ground; it is bone dry. (Make an Investigation check to see how recently water may have flowed here, if at all.) Then he ventures ahead.

Ruven knows a thing or two about waterwheels in mines. Waterwheels often operate the bellows that feed a coal-fired furnace where miners melt ore to refine ingots of precious metal ores.

"Trespassers!" shrieks a disembodied skull blazing green flames, suddenly levitating out over the channel in front of Quinn. "Leave immediately the way you came or join my legions of the dead!" It screams, followed by mad, echoing laughter.

Boona couldn't do much from where she was scrunched at the back of the group, " Why so many ghost? Stupid dead supposed to stay dead.", she loudly grumbled.

His mouth open to start in on waterwheels, bellows, ingots and ores, Ruven is rather put out by being interrupted yet again. Now, see here he says angrily, pushing his way to the front of the party. We have been naught but beset by murderous, sanguinary adversaries and assailants ever since setting foot in this cave, yet we are here only to study this extraordinary and antiquated arcanum. I demand you absent yourself and make known that we are allies to the rest of the inhabitants of this place.

"SILENCE!" screams the green-flaming levitating skull. "LEAVE, TRESPASSERS, IMMEDIATELY, or DIE!"

You hear a line of shuffling footsteps approaching from the west, above you, outside the 5' deep channel. 

Boona, in the back, is still prone under the part of the channel with the low ceiling. (The cavern ceiling near the wheel is maybe 35 feet high.)

"Stop yelling at us!" Bryony yells back. "Who are you anyway?"

The halfling doesn't really expect a response, but she's curious about the answer nonetheless. 

The flaming skull screams in laughter. "I am the SMELTER GUARD! And you are DEAD!"

Without warning, two fiery rays burst from its eyes toward Bryony.

Fire Ray Attack #1 vs. Bryony: 9. Hit: 10 fire damage.
Fire Ray Attack #2 vs. Bryony: 15. Hit: 9 fire damage.

A row of about eight dead dwarven miners suddenly appears above you, at the top of the dry channel. They look down upon the party with empty eye sockets.

Roll initiative!
Flaming Skull: 18
Dwarven Zombies: 4

Jurgen Init: 11

Quinn: 12

Boona- 13