Harpoon grab (with rope if possible): 23

Stena has a memory flash of Galingal disposing of the group's net, and figuring leaving to others only gives them a chance to bungle it, lunges for the side, snagging the cord that is attached to both harpoon and fish man.

She wills herself visible and says,

"Help me haul this up. We can us it to try and get something to eat."

Once they get it up to the body she'll cut the rope free letting the body drop back in, not interested in the rest of it. She'd wait momentarily someone wanted to check it for anything else (not Neth or Buppido).

Galingal slips his rapier into it's scabbard and moves over to help Stena.

Before the body does slip back under, he searches it quickly, to see if there's anything else of use besides the harpoon.

Perception: 10  

Lia still staggers back after the creature showed remarkable mental resilience. She scans around a little furtively at the water surface all around them, then catches sight of the rest of the party manhandling the harpoon and the large creature alongside their small vessel. She mutters to herself, “We’re… … gonna need a bigger boat!…”.

Moments after the rest of the crew finish searching and stripping the body for anything useful, she approaches them saying, “Come on… As quick as possible we need to ditch this thing!… The blood alone will attract everything for miles around…”.

”We have to move!!… Now!!…”. She gets to an oar, ready to make a move…

Buppido spits into the water dismissive of the now dead creature.

The quick search results in:

• a barbed harpoon with 60 ft of cord: Melee or Ranged Weapon: can be used to pull targets not more than one size category larger than the attacker
• crude ornamental bronze bracers, a pair of tentacled figures are worked into them... or is it a single figure with two heads?
• leather harness with pierced coins, shells, glass affixed to it. Likely served an ornamental or sentimental purpose.
• a half eaten fish carcass, 2lbs of meat

Galingal places the fish carcass to the side.

"Breakfast," he says.

Then he looks more closely at the bracers to make sure there's not particularly special about them (Arcana/Investigation? 13  )

He then grabs a pole and begins helping Lia with her attempt to get them away from all the noise they just made.

The images worked into them are a bit disturbing, but they seem to have no other properties.

Stena pauses in what she is helping Galingal is doing to squint at Lia before saying not very quietly to the elf,

"Now she's worried about noise?"

She stows the harpoon and rope then starts helping pole away, calling to Ranador in undercommon,

"Trouble's been dealt with. Thanks to ye we were able to dodge those rocks and make short work of it. If ye're up for it we'd appreciate your lookout help again. "

The drow child nods and resumes their position in the front of the boat.

You travel onward, and those of you with better hearing eventually hear the sound of splashing water. Ranador calls as you get closer to the source, and Buppido at the wheel calls for you to back paddle. He joins the child in the front of the boat, Ranador shying away from the derro with a glance to Stena, but Buppido is looking at the cave wall ahead.

"A lock. Don't see anyone, might be it's self-service. I'll bring us in slowly." 

He pats the drow on the shoulder with a smile and a kind word, after initially flinching, Ranador returns a bit of the smile.

Buppido takes the wheel, and via translation, has you pole the boat in to a stone dock, where the boat is able to be made fast. Beyond the dock, the water looks to vanish over a spillway, falling to some lower level. A stone and fungus building is alongside the canal beyond the spillway, there are no lights inside, only a soft glow suffusing the area from bluish lichen dangling from the ceiling, seemingly thriving in the faint spray kicked up by the falling water.

"The mechanism will be inside. Hopefully it still works."

Lia says quietly, “We should try and find the mechanism. Some of us should stay on the boat to see it through the lock…”.

Galingal just raises an eyebrow and nods when Stena comments on Lia's concern about the noise.

---------------

When they stop at the lock, Galingal steps across on to the stone ledge of the dock and approaches the doorway to the lock house. He peers inside, looking for signs of trouble.

Perception: 11  

Galingal peers in, his eyes scanning for potential foes, and finding none. It isn't until he relaxes his vigilance that he takes in signs of a struggle here. Not something recent, the broken shards of pottery and covered with a bit of dust, and whatever they contained has begun to mold. Of somewhat greater concern is that the wheel controlling the lock has been shattered and lies on the floor beneath the shaft connected to gears and chains that presumably open and close the gates of the lock.

Galingal moves in closer to the broken wheel and the mechanism to figure out if there's a way to work around the broken wheel - maybe breaking a chain to lower the gate. They don't need to be worried about it working to take them back. They just want to go forward.

"We need to force the gears," Galingal calls back outside to the others as he examines the mechanism more closely (Investigation?: 11  )

Stena watches Buppido's interactions with Ranador closely, teeth clenched.

At the lock she moves around check for recent signs of whatever caused the damage.

Survival: 20

Then she inspects the machinery for ways to repair it.

Inspection: 4

Galingal's not sure how they function, but since the lock seems to be in one position now, moving the geared chains whichever way they'll move should move it in the other direction.

Stena's pretty sure it was deliberate sabotage, but she's at a loss for how to repair the mechanism. She can tell from looking at it that it must be deep dwarven. No wonder it's not built in a straightforward, logical manner.

Stena shakes her head at the machinery and leaves Galingal to deciphering it and instead keeps an eye out for any trouble,  internal or external the party.

"What's the hold up? Raise the lock so we can get going!", Buppido calls out in dwarven.

Galingal looks at the chains for a moment and then over at Stena.

"Help me pull here," Galingal says, and begins pulling down?

(Athletics if this needs a roll, adv with help from Stena?: 21  )

Stena yells back in Dwarven,

"It's been destroyed. If you think you can fix it you're welcome to try."

Stena gives, apparently, very little help to Galingal.