The Necropolis, part V: Solving the Gordian knot like Alexander
Faced with a logical puzzle, the party decides to implement their oldest and bestest strategy: brute force.
The fact that these puzzle pieces are iconic monsters from eldritch lore does not inhibit them. Displaying at least a minor adaptation to the nature of this world, they lay in wait until a pair of chuul go out hunting. The ambush is over almost instantly, and the party rushes to implement the rest of their plan before the eye tyrant is aware that war has broken out.
As soon as they are in sight of the tower the Bard Dimension Doors them the top, backed up by the Druid flying in as a bat. However, their reconnaissance was imperfect; the roof of the tower is missing, and the party immediately falls into a pool with several started and hungry chuuls. The eye tyrant aims his anti-magic cone down into the water, rendering the party totally blind as their night-vision goggles shut down.
The Bard escaped this fate with his Cloak of the Bat, but now he and the Druid are dealing with eye rays. The Cleric and Ranger are swimming for the edge of the water while the Barbarian decides that, even blind and swimming, he can still take any number of over-stuffed lobsters.
This might have been mildly dangerous, until the Druid turns into a bear and drops down on the eye tyrant. This legendary creature is a potent foe in magical combat, but not melee; it disintegrates in a burst of gore, shredded by claws and fangs. The Druid-Bear falls into the pool with the Barbarian and the chuul; without antimagic protection, the lobsters are dispatched before the Ranger even gets out of the water. The Wizard arrives in the doorway, having run in on foot, only to contribute nothing but sarcastic applause.
That removes one party from consideration. Now they approach the ghasts and make a deal, trading the Wizard's giant zombie for their half of the secret. They are aware that the now unstable dynamic almost certainly sees the ghasts and the aboleth teaming up against them, so the very next day they attack. The ghasts are still in their camp, having spent the time finishing another bone construct from the bits of the zombie rather than seeking out alliances. However, they are not fooled, and not found unprepared.
Or rather, they thought they were prepared, until the Bard teleports the Barbarian to the back of the line where he instantly executes one of the spell-casting ghasts. (This prompts a bit of discussion about how teleport works, and a general agreement that in the future, being teleported leaves one unable to act until the next round, as the party rather fears the instant assassination technique they've just discovered.)
Meanwhile the rest of the fight is hardly any more challenging. The Druid-Bear melee machine is the perfect antidote to the bone constructs; the Barbarian and Bard in the back lines are cleaning up spell-casters despite several Flame Strikes. The Bard smoothly switches between melee and magic, interrupting the spell-casters and shaping the battlefield with Black Tentacles - even though they are dispelled, they cost the enemy precious time, and time is one thing they don't have as the magic resistant Barbarian is a spell-caster's worst nightmare. Having successfully countered both prongs of the ghast's defenses, the party makes such short work of them that the Wizard and Ranger are reduced to spectators.
They choose to press on to the aboleth before resting, hoping to catch it by surprise. This fails, of course, because the aboleth is literally an evil genius; but at the same time, the creature suspects it is outclassed. Can it negotiate the party into some more profitable outcome - or will it test its magic against them while they are at least partially depleted?
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