The Undead Swimming Pool

With Whelm in tow, we started heading back towards the entrance to the dungeon - back towards the sphinx. We made it back without any trouble, but once there we quickly discovered that to pursue the other weapons we would have to answer more riddles. Bolstered by our success (or luck) with the sphinx's first riddle, we believed our next attempt would be equally successful. The sphinx then queried:

"Round she is yet flat as a board,
Altar of the Lupine Lords.
Pearl on black velvet,
Jewel of the sea.
Changing yet never changing,
Eternally"

We discussed the riddle for a moment, but each of us agreed that the phrases "Lupine Lords" and "pearl on black velvet sea" were huge clues. When it came time to give our answer, it was unanimous. "The Moon" we responded, and with a sly grin the old sphinx let us pass.

This time we chose the passage to the right, and soon we were sloshing through the sludge and water filled passages this dungeon was seemingly rife with. Little did we know at the time that soon we would meet one of the most helpful denizens of this dungeon - but not without yet another test to pass. As the waters receded and the stench grew more bearable, we came across an open room filled with five statues depicting warriors in heavy armor. But that wasn't entirely correct; upon closer inspection the "statues" were actually mechanical constructs, obviously very old judging by the scratches and dents on their armor. They looked menacing, but made no move to threaten us - they made no movements at all, in fact! As we stepped into the room, we were greeted by a voice that issued from a magical mouth that appeared high on the far wall. "Greetings, strangers" it said. "I welcome you to my home. I am eager to meet you, but one cannot be too careful these days. My servants are eager to make your acquaintance. But I must warn you. One of them is not like the others. Find him, or I am afraid the others will be quite upset with you."

The mouth disappeared, and as we examined the soldiers we noticed that each had a distinct pattern of lines emblazoned on its chest plate. All of the symbols looked slightly different, but according to the mysterious voice one of them was different from the rest. It took us a while, but eventually we saw that each pattern of lines was angled in a particular way. All but one which, to my untrained eye looked somewhat different than the others. Admittedly, I may have been  little premature in shouting out the answer "Number Nine!" A sudden flurry of motion from the constructs startled us, but as one they took a few steps back towards the wall - all but number 9. He (since it has now been determined it prefers the male descriptor) took one step forward and said "I am at your service - what do you desire of me?" We asked him his name, to which he replied "I do not have a name, I have always simply been Number 9" "Well, Nine it is" responded Kai.

The way forward once again open to us, we continued, with Nine in tow, and found (surprise, surprise) more slimy, dirty, wet tunnels. It was dark, even with Kai's glowing sword, so we decided to activate one of our sunrods. We wanted Nine to carry it, but with both hands occupied it had to be strapped to his head - he didn't seem to mind. We trudged on for a while until once again the hallway opened up into a large room, filled with what we assumed was more knee-deep water. Not wanting to stumble into a monsters waiting jaws, Kai extended his sword's light to reveal the rest of the room. This was answered with movement in the tunnel on the far side - a small waif of a little girl, with little covering her nether regions. Clearly afraid, she ducked around the corner. Kai took a step forward to investigate and unwittingly uncovered a complication; the room was not filled with knee-deep water, it was a cistern. And a moment later, all we could see was the faint light of Kai's sword at the bottom of the pool.

A few of us rushed forward to investigate, and a shrill cackle from the back of the room was the first clue that we were not alone. Underneath the water, dark silhouettes sped towards the point of light that was our Fighter. I quickly dove in after him, and came face to face with humanoids that had clearly been dead for ages. Unfortunately, they could swim much better than Kai or I could in our heavy armor. Meanwhile, Terik began making his way around the perimeter of the room, carefully following a narrow ledge until is abruptly ended. With no way to know if the ledge began again up ahead, he was forced to dive in, following the cackle to the back of the room. Nine also made his way forward, and with all the grace of a brick he jumped into the water and sank to the bottom.We were at a disadvantage fighting under the water, but luckily the zombies didn't use much in the way of tactics. Alternating between striking the zombies and going up for air, we managed to fight them back. But every zombie that fell left the water slightly cloudier, as bits of skin, limbs, and other assorted nastiness were hacked off. What we now know was an evil hag cackled again, and sent a barrage of arcane energy barreling towards Ayas, who was now also making his way around the ledge. But the hag misjudged the distance, and missed the Dragonborn, opening herself up for a return fire from Wotan. Terik soon climbed out of the far end of the pool and attacked the hag. The evil fey caught a spear in the side just as Terik swung his blade down on her neck. The hag was dead, but left Terik with a parting gift, as a cloud of blinding spores exploded from her body. The half-orc was shaken, but the cloud's effects weren't long lasting (or so we thought).

As Nine traversed the pool as only a warforged could (slowly walking along the bottom) he noticed an opening underwater. We asked him to see where it went, being that he had no fear of drowning. He came back a few minute later and described a small room, obviously the lair of the hag. Kai and I decided to investigate it, and inside we found a few odds and ends. But the only thing of value seemed to be an old shield, rusty and broken, but emblazoned with a symbol we thought Ayas would recognize - a stylized dragon's head. Wanting to be anywhere that wasn't next to a disgusting, greasy pool, we pushed on.