Session 22: Into the Abyss
Abyssal Trench Descent
TONE: Rising tension into genuine dread. The Trench is hostile,
beautiful, and deeply wrong.
The Morning After — Lost Boys’
Camp
The party wakes at the Lost Boys’ camp. Before the descent, give them
a final preparation scene: what does each character do with their last
morning above water? Who talks to who? This is the last normal thing
before the Trench.
Findable items at the camp: a slingshot (driftwood and fishgut
string), a cracked compass that points to ‘the most fun direction,’ a
blowgun with 20 darts (1d6, CON Save DC 14 or paralyzed).
Meeting Coral
Coral, Chieftain of the Merrow, meets the party at the shore. He
wears barnacle epaulets and carries a staff of coral and whale-bone. He
speaks in complete sentences, with the deliberate cadence of someone who
has been giving briefings for five hundred years.
| Coral’s Briefing | Detail |
|---|---|
| The situation | The Veil-Renderers have found a way to open the Tooth |
| The mechanism | A sacrifice must be made — if accepted, the Tooth’s power is unleashed |
| The threat | The Prophet of the Void believes he can harness it and use it to rend the veil — which could destroy Neverland |
| The ask | Stop the ritual; prevent the sacrifice; or find a way to seal the Tooth if it opens |
| What Coral can offer | The merrow will escort the party through the upper Trench and hold the perimeter; they cannot enter the Tooth’s sphere of influence |
Divine Messengers
As the party enters the water, each character receives a brief vision
from their deity’s messenger. Run these as private moments — whisper
them to each player, or pass notes. The party can choose to share or
not. Tailor each message to the character’s divine parent and what that
deity most values or fears about this moment.
| Deity Domain | Message Approach |
|---|---|
| Love / Beauty deity | Reminds the character that genuine feeling — not power or cleverness — is the only currency the Tooth respects. ‘True beauty can disarm even the most hideous of deep-sea monsters.’ |
| Wisdom / Knowledge deity | Warns that the Tooth holds truths older than the Veil-Renderers understand. ‘Seek not only the Kraken’s Tooth, but what it guards. The answer lies in the past.’ |
| Death / Shadow deity | Notes that chaos creates opportunity, but the character must first know what they truly want. ‘What does anyone want in this dark and dreary life? Find the answer and you’ll find your solution.’ |
| Trickster / Chaos deity | Suggests the whole situation is a stage — and that the Tooth might offer a glimpse of what lies behind the curtain. ‘I wonder what you’d see if you could look beyond the veil…’ |
| War / Order deity | Frames the descent as a test of what the character values most: order, chaos, or the people standing next to them. ‘What are your companions worth to you? The Tooth holds power and truth — what is worth more?’ |
| Nature / Animal deity | Simple and sensory: ‘Be still. Listen. The deep has its own language. You already know some of it.’ |
DM NOTE: Players who follow their messenger’s guidance earn
Inspiration. DC 15 Religion to understand deeper meaning reveals a clue
specific to that deity’s interest in the Tooth.
The Descent
Hazard 1: The Great Maelstrom
COMBAT: Skill Challenge — 3 successes before 3 failures. Athletics,
Acrobatics, Survival, or casting Control Water or Water Breathing.
Failure: 1d10 bludgeoning damage and swept into the blackwater algae
field.
Hazard 2: Blackwater Algae
If the party doesn’t use the Merfolk Tear Gem to spot and avoid the
algae, it bioluminesces when disturbed.
COMBAT: Blind Maw Encounter × 1–2 (CR 4 each): HP 52, AC 13, Bite +5
2d6+3 plus grapple, Psychic Lure — DC 14 Wis or drawn 20 feet toward the
Maw next turn, Telepathic Scream (recharge 5–6) — 30ft cone, DC 13 Int
or frightened and can’t use reactions 1 round.
Hazard 3: The Watcher Below
— Optional
As the party descends past 5,000 feet, they pass the Watcher — a
colossal jellyfish aberration, translucent, the size of a galleon,
moving with slow deliberate grace. It senses thought-patterns, not
sound.
If left undisturbed (no magic, no loud sounds, covered light
sources): it passes. If disturbed: Reality Distortion Aura — each party
member must succeed DC 13 Int or experience one round of sensory
confusion. Tailor the hallucination to the character: a beauty-focused
character might hear something alien singing in a strangely appealing
way; a flight-capable character might briefly believe they can fly (and
attempt it); an ambition-driven character might see their greatest
desire made manifest and have to resist reaching for it.
DM NOTE: The Watcher is not hostile — it is alien. It is not trying
to hurt anyone. Running away from it or hiding is the correct response,
not fighting it. Let the party figure this out.
The False Tooth
A coral-mimic fang that resembles the Kraken’s Tooth sits on a shelf
of rock, guarded by Deep Wretches.
COMBAT: Deep Wretches × 3 (custom): HP 45, AC 14, immune to charm and
the frightened condition, resistant to non-magical
bludgeoning/piercing/slashing. Slam +5 1d8+3. Black Brine Pools in the
area — DC 14 Dex save or splashed and blinded for 1 turn.
Loot on the Wretches: a barnacle-sealed chest containing one random
magic item and a half-written letter addressed to ‘The Prophet’ with
partial ritual instructions.
Optional: The Harpy’s Teat
If the party detours to the sunken wreck: Nibbles, the sea dragon who
grew up in the cargo hold after Captain Lirra’s crew fed him sailors’
fingers for years, is now the size of a young adult bronze dragon. He is
not hostile — he wants to wrestle ‘for shinies’ and will ask riddles. He
calls the party ‘land squishies.’
DM NOTE: Nibbles is a comic encounter with real stakes if the party
is careless — Young Bronze Dragon stats but with ‘wants treasure and to
play’ as his primary motivation. He can be befriended with gems,
impressive performance, or by solving his riddles.
-
Surviving the descent: 400 XP
-
Defeating the Blind Maws: 400 XP
-
Defeating the Deep Wretches: 450 XP
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Befriending or escaping Nibbles: 300 XP
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