The Temple of the Toad Oracle, pt 2

The Grim North is no country for old amphibians

Calypso Seth, M1

Dögrenn, R1

Having entered the Temple of the Toad Oracle the PCs were faced with a large pool filled with sludgy freezing cold water and millions of thumb sized tadpoles. Attempting to cross it without disturbing the pool seemed unlikely and the failure of anyone to bring a grappling hook was keenly felt. Wading through the pool left them soaked with icy water and about an hour of activity before some form of hyperthermia set in. 

Not so lucky was NPC bodyguard Steve who was snatched and carried away by something under the surface of the pool. A hasty exit onto dry land was performed. On the far side of the pool now the PCs were faced with toad statues and stairs leading up to a slime covered door. Thorough inspection of the area revealed one of the stairs featured a pressure plate and also there was a lever artfully carved into one of the statues. So, to pull the lever or not to pull the lever? 

 They pulled it. A concealed door opened up across the pool and they were able to reach it using a handy coracle. In the chamber beyond they encountered an impossibly old being. Either a huge frog so old it looked like a man or a man so old he looked like a frog. Claiming to be the Brewer, he had four crucibles laid out in front of him. He stated that they were toad brews that bestowed the powers of the amphibian gods on the Champion of the Toad Oracle. A being the PCs would have to fight if they intended to consult the oracle. 

 Calypso decided to quaff all four brews and mutated hideously as a result. She began to manifest powerful frog-like legs, froggy eyes on the side of her head, a bulbous neck sack containing a powerful croak and a slimy paralytic secretion exuding from her very skin.

They took the coracle through a semi submerged cave rather than return to the stairs of found themselves in the arena of the Toad Dome. Calypso faced the Champion of the Toad Oracle within the Toad Dome but although two entered she did not leave, having been brained by a warty mace. 

 However the sacrifice to the amphibian gods was complete and so they progressed to see the Toad Oracle itself. After solving a frog related riddle, in record time, they were granted an audience with the tiny oracular toad. His cryptic croaks were not much use to their patron who may have discovered the location of the Well of Ophid or may not have. It depends on how many croaks means yes and was that one croak with a pause or two croaks. You can’t put your faith in oracles it would seem.